An outline, era by era

Korea

Korean Empire, then annexed by Japan (1910)

Late Modern Era / 19th Century · ~1800 – 1914

Korea is a peninsula in northeast Asia that was ruled for five centuries by the Joseon dynasty (1392 to 1897). In the nineteenth century it was a cautious, Confucian kingdom, often called the Hermit Kingdom by outsiders, that was a tributary of Qing China and kept tight limits on foreign contact. From the 1870s it was pulled into a contest between China, Japan and Russia, and Western powers also signed treaties with it.

In 1897 King Gojong declared the Korean Empire, partly to assert independence from China. The empire lasted only thirteen years. After Japan's victory over Russia in 1905 it made Korea a protectorate, and in August 1910 it annexed the country. Japanese rule lasted until 1945, and its legacy still shapes relations in East Asia.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. The Treaty of Ganghwa, 1876

    Event

    What happened

    In 1875 a Japanese warship, the Unyo, is fired on near Ganghwa Island. In February 1876 Japan uses the incident to press Korea into the Treaty of Ganghwa. It opens three ports to Japanese trade and states that Korea is an independent state.

    The rest is history

    The treaty ended Korea's long seclusion and gave Japan extraterritorial rights, much as Western powers had won in China. The wording on independence challenged the Chinese view that Korea was a vassal. Korea signed a treaty with the United States in 1882, and other powers followed. The treaty began the open competition over Korea that ran to 1910.

    Sources

    1. BookDuus, Peter. The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
    2. BookPalais, James B. Politics and Policy in Traditional Korea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1975.

  2. The Imo Incident and the Gapsin Coup

    Event

    What happened

    In July 1882 unpaid and underfed soldiers in Seoul riot, attack the palace and Japanese officials, and Queen Min flees. China sends troops and restores order. In December 1884 reformers who admire Japan seize the palace in the Gapsin Coup, but Chinese troops crush it within days.

    The rest is history

    These events left Chinese forces and influence strong in Seoul and showed how divided the court was between conservatives and reformers. China's commander Yuan Shikai effectively supervised Korean affairs from 1885. China and Japan agreed in the 1885 Convention of Tianjin to withdraw troops and give notice before sending any again. That agreement mattered in 1894.

    Sources

    1. BookDeuchler, Martina. Confucian Gentlemen and Barbarian Envoys: The Opening of Korea, 1875-1885. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1977.
    2. PrimaryConvention of Tianjin between China and Japan on Korea. Treaty, 18 April 1885.

  3. The Donghak Uprising

    Event

    What happened

    In 1894 peasants in the southwest, many of them followers of the Donghak (Eastern Learning) religion, rise against corrupt officials and heavy taxes. The government asks China for help. China sends troops, and Japan, citing the 1885 convention, sends its own, which are far more numerous.

    The rest is history

    The rebellion faded once a truce was made, but the foreign troops stayed. Japan's forces seized the palace in Seoul in July 1894, and the First Sino-Japanese War followed. Donghak forces rose again in the autumn and were crushed by Japanese and Korean troops, with heavy losses. The rising is the direct trigger of the war that ended Chinese influence over Korea.

    Sources

    1. BookEckert, Carter J., et al. Korea Old and New: A History. Seoul: Ilchokak, 1990.
    2. BookKim, Sun Joo, ed. The Northern Region of Korea: History, Identity, and Culture. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010.

  4. The Sino-Japanese War and the Treaty of Shimonoseki

    Event

    What happened

    Japan defeats China on land and sea between 1894 and 1895. In the Treaty of Shimonoseki, signed in April 1895, China recognises the full independence of Korea and cedes Taiwan and other territory to Japan. Japanese-backed officials carry out reforms in Seoul, the Gabo Reforms.

    The rest is history

    The treaty ended the old tributary link between Korea and China. Japan now had the strongest voice at court. The Gabo Reforms abolished the old civil service examinations and the legal status of slaves, among other changes. Many Koreans resented Japanese pressure behind them, and Russia, Germany and France forced Japan to give back the Liaodong Peninsula, which encouraged Korean hopes of Russian help.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryTreaty of Shimonoseki. Treaty between Japan and China, 17 April 1895.
    2. BookDuus, Peter. The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.

  5. The killing of Queen Min

    Event

    What happened

    On 8 October 1895 a group of Japanese officers, soldiers and others enters Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul and kills Queen Min, the wife of King Gojong and a leading opponent of Japanese influence. The Japanese minister Miura Gorō is later recalled and tried in Japan, but the accused are acquitted for lack of evidence.

    The rest is history

    The killing caused outrage in Korea and abroad. In February 1896 Gojong fled to the Russian legation, where he stayed about a year and governed from there. Pro-Japanese ministers fell, and Russian influence rose. Anti-Japanese volunteer militias, the Righteous Armies, were active in the countryside. The affair set the stage for Gojong's later move to proclaim an empire.

    Sources

    1. BookDuus, Peter. The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
    2. BookLee, Ki-baik. A New History of Korea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984.

  6. The Korean Empire is proclaimed

    Event

    What happened

    Gojong returns to his own palace in February 1897. In October 1897 he takes the title of emperor and names the state the Korean Empire (Daehan Jeguk). The reign period is called Gwangmu. The government attempts reforms in the army, land survey, mining, railways, telegraphs and electric trams in Seoul.

    The rest is history

    The change of title asserted that Korea stood equal to China and Japan. The reform programme was real but limited by money and by competing foreign concessions, with Russia, Japan and the United States all holding mining, timber or railway rights. The empire never had a strong army. Its independence rested on the rivalry of other powers, and that balance ended in 1904.

    Sources

    1. BookEckert, Carter J., et al. Korea Old and New: A History. Seoul: Ilchokak, 1990.
    2. BookLee, Ki-baik. A New History of Korea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984.

  7. The Russo-Japanese War and the protectorate

    Event

    What happened

    Japan attacks Russian forces in February 1904 and the same month forces the Korean government to sign an alliance protocol allowing Japanese troops to move through Korea. After Japan wins in 1905, Britain and the United States accept its leading role in Korea. In November 1905 Japan imposes the Eulsa Treaty, which hands Korean foreign affairs to Japan and places a resident-general in Seoul.

    The rest is history

    Gojong never signed the treaty and sent secret envoys to the Hague peace conference in 1907 to protest. Japan used this to force him to abdicate in favour of his son Sunjong, and it disbanded the Korean army. Righteous Army fighting spread in 1907 and 1908. Hundreds of Korean officials and others protested, and some killed themselves. The first resident-general, Itō Hirobumi, was shot dead by An Jung-geun at Harbin in October 1909.

    Sources

    1. BookDuus, Peter. The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
    2. PrimaryJapan-Korea Protectorate Treaty (Eulsa Treaty). Treaty, 17 November 1905.

  8. The annexation of 1910

    Event

    What happened

    On 22 August 1910 the Japanese resident-general Terauchi Masatake and the Korean prime minister Yi Wan-yong sign the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty. It is made public on 29 August. The Korean Empire ends, and the peninsula becomes the Japanese colony of Chōsen, ruled by a governor-general.

    The rest is history

    Japan ruled Korea until its surrender in August 1945. Whether the treaty was legally valid is still disputed. Korean governments have held it null from the start because of the force used, while Japan has argued it was valid when made. Emperor Sunjong did not sign in the usual way. Later colonial rule, including the March First Movement of 1919, belongs to the following period.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryTreaty of Annexation between Japan and Korea. Treaty, signed 22 August 1910, proclaimed 29 August 1910.
    2. BookCaprio, Mark E. Japanese Assimilation Policies in Colonial Korea, 1910-1945. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009.

  9. The Hermit Kingdom

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Korea is often said to have been a sealed and isolated land that shut out the whole world until it was forced open in the 1870s. The nickname comes from the 1882 book of that name.

    The rest is history

    The name Hermit Kingdom was popularised by William Elliot Griffis in his 1882 book Corea, the Hermit Nation. Korea was in fact tied to China through regular tribute missions and trade at the border. Its seclusion policy was real in the 1860s under the regent Heungseon Daewongun, who repelled French and American naval expeditions in 1866 and 1871. Even so, Korea was never wholly cut off, and it kept ties with Japan at Busan.

    Sources

    1. BookGriffis, William Elliot. Corea, the Hermit Nation. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1882.
    2. BookPalais, James B. Politics and Policy in Traditional Korea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1975.

  10. The General Sherman incident

    Folk tale

    The legend

    In 1866 an armed American merchant ship, the General Sherman, sails up the Taedong River toward Pyongyang. Local people are said to have burned the ship and killed its crew. In Korean tradition the Pyongyang people are the heroes who defeated the foreign invaders.

    The rest is history

    The ship did enter the Taedong River in August 1866, ran aground and was destroyed, and all aboard died. Accounts of what led to the fighting differ. Korean sources stress that the crew kidnapped and killed locals, while Western accounts note an attempt to trade. The event was one reason the United States sent a naval expedition in 1871, which fought Korean forts on Ganghwa Island before withdrawing. It is remembered in Korea as an early act of defiance.

    Sources

    1. BookEckert, Carter J., et al. Korea Old and New: A History. Seoul: Ilchokak, 1990.
    2. BookCumings, Bruce. Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997.

← Back to the outline