We already found four characteristics of premodern Korea in Hendrick Hamel’s document. In this paper we made some additional discussions for these characteristics.
1. Judicial system and punishment. In premodern Korea both persons suspected and related witnesses were restricted in detention rooms. And they were put in cruel torture. Therefore many persons were falsely accused and punished cruelly.
2. A number of slaves were used in history of Korea. Because of special idea of labor in Korean traditional Confucian ideology Korean yangban (higher class people) needed to have slaves.
3. Western writers always wrote that Korean common people’s life was poor and miserable by government officials ‘compression and extortion.
4. Hamel wrote that Korean people frequently lied each other. Modern newspapers report that Koreans frequently lie. Some Korean historians object that untrue contents of history textbooks have taught excessive anti-Japanese feeling.