Pak Ton-ji

Pak Tonji (; July 3, 1342 – September 17, 1422) was a Korean scholar-bureaucrat, diplomat, and ambassador, representing Joseon interests in the tongsinsa (diplomatic mission) to the Ashikaga shogunate (Muromachi bakufu) in Japan. He lived from the late Goryeo until the early Joseon periods.

Early life Pak Tonji was born in 1342 in Kŏnch'ŏn-ri, Gaegyeong, the capital of Goryeo. A member of the Miryang Pak clan, he was the son of Pak Yun-mun and Lady Kim, the second daughter of Kim T'aehyŏn. On December 3, 1360, he passed the civil service examination, ranking eighth overall.

1398 mission to Japan King Taejo dispatched a diplomatic mission to Japan in 1398–1399. Pak led the embassy to the shogunal court of Ashikaga Yoshimochi. The envoy was charged with conveying a response to a message from the Japanese shōgun and seeking Ashikaga involvement in suppressing pirate raiders believed to come from Japan. These pirates were variously known as wokou (Chinese character: 倭寇; Chinese pronunciation: wōkòu; Japanese pronunciation: wakō; Korean pronunciation: 왜구 waegu).

Pak and his retinue arrived in Kyoto in the early autumn of 1398 (Ōei 5, 8th month) . Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimochi presented the envoy with a formal diplomatic letter; and presents were given for the envoy to convey to the Joseon court. When Pak returned from Japan in 1399, he brought with him more than 100 wakō captives,

The Japanese hosts may have construed this mission as tending to confirm a Japan-centric world order. Pak's words and actions were more narrowly focused in negotiating protocols for Joseon–Japan diplomatic relations. and in Nihon ōdai ichiran (published in Paris in 1834). Joseon foreign relations and diplomacy are explicitly referenced in the 1834 work.

Family Pak Tonji was the son of Pak Yun-mun and Lady Kim. He married the daughter of Hong Man-ryong of the Namyang Hong clan. Together, they had a son, Pak Sa-je, and two daughters. Their first daughter married Yi Ŭi-san, while their second married Chŏng Kyŏng.