The Japanese-Korean Treaties in the First Decade of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Throughout history, Korea has been the focus of Japanese attention, as it is the link between Japan and mainland Asia, and at the same time constitutes a source of external threats. Therefore, Japan, by virtue of its geographical proximity to Korea, launched several campaigns to control it, the last of which was during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Japan forced the Korean peninsula to open up to the outside world according to the Ganghwa Treaty at the beginning of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, in a clear attempt to achieve the Japanese dream of annexing it to it, as it is the first foothold towards expanding control and building the Japanese empire.  Final in Korea.

The Japanese rivalries on the Korean Peninsula were evident with the Chinese Empire nominally in control of Korea, due to the dispute over Korea's modernization and the issue of its independence, as a result of which the Japanese-Chinese war occurred between them in the last decade of the nineteenth century;  Japan was able, as a result of its victory in the war, and according to the Treaty of Shimonoseki, to end the Korean dependence on China and declare it an independent state, after which the process of Japanese modernization of Korea began.

The Japanese victory contributed to the emergence of a new situation in the Far East, prompting the powers aspiring to control the rich and new regions, such as Russia, to lead a tripartite intervention alongside France and Germany to stand up to the emerging new Japanese power.  From here began the Japanese-Russian tension and rivalry with the aim of securing their own interests in the Korean Peninsula.  The rivalry between them continued for nearly a decade before the outbreak of the war between them. During this period, diplomatic attempts were made to resolve their dispute, but they failed, which led to the outbreak of a war between them that ended with a stunning Japanese victory and the confirmation of Japanese supremacy there, in addition to Japan's assumption of a dominant position in the East Asian region.

The Japanese victory over the Russians had great regional and international repercussions, what concerns us is the annexation of Japan to the Kingdom of Korea by imposing a series of political and economic treaties…on it, until the final control of Korea was achieved in 1910.

 Keywords: Japan, Korea, Treaties.