Throughout the 19th century, Western-style ships were occasionally sighted around the Korean Peninsula. Sometimes they passed peacefully, a mere curiosity to their bewildered witnesses, while at other times these strange vessels fell afoul of the weather or upon treacherous unmapped reefs and were cast upon the shore. It was these latter encounters that were extremely annoying as the Joseon authorities had to be deal with the shipwrecked crews as kindly as possible and repatriate them quickly through either China or Japan.