South Korean marine archaeologists have achieved a major breakthrough by successfully recovering a complete 600-year-old cargo vessel from the Joseon Dynasty, marking the country's first full excavation of a ship from this historic period. The National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage announced Monday that the 15th-century vessel, designated as Mado 4 by researchers, was successfully raised from the seabed in October following nearly a decade of careful underwater preservation work.
The remarkable discovery provides unprecedented insight into how Korea's premodern kingdom managed its complex national taxation system, logistics operations, and maritime infrastructure. The wooden vessel, which dates back to around 1420, represents the only fully excavated Joseon-era ship ever recovered and serves as the clearest physical evidence of the kingdom's sophisticated sea-based tax collection network.
Mado 4 was originally discovered in 2015 off the coast of Taean, a city in South Chungcheong Province along Korea's west coast. While the ship remained submerged for years, researchers methodically recovered over 120 artifacts from the wreckage site. These valuable finds included wooden cargo tags clearly marked with destination information, containers filled with rice, and porcelain pieces specifically produced for government tribute purposes. The artifacts definitively confirm that the vessel was an integral part of the state-operated transport system known as "joun," which was responsible for moving grain and official goods from provincial collection depots to Hanyang, the royal capital that is now modern-day Seoul.
"This is not just a ship. It's the physical infrastructure of the Joseon state coming back to light," explained an institute official. "It reveals how an early bureaucratic system successfully moved food, goods and information across long distances." Historical records suggest that Mado 4 sank around 1420 while traveling from Naju, which served as a major regional grain collection center in South Jeolla Province. The shipping route was notoriously dangerous, requiring vessels to navigate through strong tidal currents and treacherous rocky passages along Korea's west coast. These harsh conditions likely contributed to the ship's demise but also helped preserve its remains under protective layers of sand and silt.
Beyond its significant historical value, the recovered vessel has provided researchers with surprising new insights into Joseon-era shipbuilding and engineering techniques. Scientists discovered that Mado 4 featured an innovative twin-mast design, which represented a clear departure from the single-mast configuration that was common in earlier Korean vessels. This engineering choice suggests that shipbuilders prioritized speed and improved maneuverability for these important government transport missions. Even more remarkably, examination of the hull revealed that portions of the ship had been repaired using iron nails, marking the first confirmed use of metal fasteners in any traditional Korean vessel. This discovery challenges previous assumptions that Korean shipbuilders relied exclusively on wooden joints and traditional joinery techniques.
The Mado 4 discovery has been accompanied by news of another potentially groundbreaking archaeological development in the same area. Sonar scanning operations and underwater diving expeditions have uncovered evidence of a second shipwreck located near the Mado 4 site. This newly identified wreck contains celadon ceramics that have been dated to the period between 1150 and 1175. If these preliminary findings are verified through further investigation, the newly discovered vessel would become the oldest known shipwreck ever found in Korean waters, predating Mado 4 by more than two centuries and offering researchers an unprecedented window into Korea's earlier Goryeo Kingdom period.
The Taean coast has emerged as one of East Asia's most significant underwater archaeological zones since the surprise discovery of the first Korean shipwreck, designated Mado 1, by local fishermen in 2007. More than a dozen additional wrecks have been subsequently discovered in the region, collectively revealing evidence of a once-bustling maritime corridor that served as the backbone for state finance operations, tribute exchange systems, and domestic distribution networks across multiple centuries of Korean history.
While Mado 4 is currently undergoing extensive long-term desalination and preservation treatment processes in Taean, a carefully curated selection of artifacts recovered from the vessel is available for public viewing. The special exhibition, titled "The Nation's Ship That Sailed the Sea," opened in September and will continue through February 2026 at the Taean Maritime Museum. The comprehensive display features over 120 recovered artifacts and provides visitors with detailed insights into the ship's historical significance and the advanced techniques used in its recovery and preservation.
The recovery and ongoing study of Mado 4 are being conducted under the leadership of the National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage, which operates under the Cultural Heritage Administration of South Korea. The successful completion of this complex underwater excavation project represents a major achievement in marine archaeology and significantly advances understanding of Korea's maritime heritage and historical governmental systems.
