| Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity | ||||||||
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The Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity, also known as the Treaty of Ganghwa or Treaty of Kanghwa, was made between representatives of the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Joseon in 1876.[1] Negotiations were concluded on February 26, 1876.[2]
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After the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, European nations began to colonize many other weaker nations in Africa and Asia, the political ideology called Imperialism. Almost all of Africa was colonized by European Powers; most of Central, South and Southeast Asia including India was taken over by various European nations. East Asia also was invaded by foreign powers, beginning with the Opium Wars in China by Britain and other foreign powers; China's empire was reduced to a half-colonized territory. Meanwhile, the American Asiatic Squadron under the leadership of Matthew C. Perry forced Japan to open its ports to the western world in 1854.
Humiliated by unequal treaties and the prospect of losing its independence and integrity to imperialist powers, Japan embarked on a rapid transformation, successfully turning itself from a comparatively medieval society into a modern industrialized state.
In Korea, the strong dictatorship of Heungseon Daewongun was overthrown by Empress Myeongseong, who instituted a policy of closing doors to European powers. France and United States had already made several unsuccessful attempts to begin commerce with the Joseon Dynasty, all of them happening during Heungseon Daewongun's era. However, after he was removed from power, many new officials who supported the idea of opening commerce with foreigners took power. While there was political instability, Japan developed a plan to open and exert influence on Korea before a European power could. In 1875, their plan was put into action: the Un'yō, a small Japanese warship under the command of Inoue Yoshika, was dispatched to survey coastal waters without Korean permission.
On September 20 the ship reached Ganghwa Island, which had been a site of violent confrontations between Korean forces and foreign forces in the previous decade. In 1866, the island was briefly occupied by the French, and also in 1871 subject to American intervention. The memories of those confrontations were very fresh, and there was little question that the Korean garrison would shoot at any approaching foreign ship. Nonetheless, Commander Inoue ordered a small boat launched – allegedly in search of drinkable water. The Korean forts opened fire. The Un'yō brought its superior firepower to bear and silenced the Korean guns. Then it attacked another Korean port and withdrew back to Japan.
Japan employed gunboat diplomacy to press Joseon Dynasty to sign this unequal treaty. The pact opened up Korea, as Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet of Black Ships had opened up Japan in 1853. According to the treaty, it ended Joseon's status as a tributary state of Qing dynasty and opened three ports to Japanese trade. The Treaty also granted Japanese many of the same rights in Korea that Westerners enjoyed in Japan, such as extraterritoriality.
The chief treaty negotiators were Kuroda Kiyotaka, Governor of Hokkaidō, and Shin Heon, General/Minister of Joseon Dynasty Korea.
The articles of the treaty were as follows:
In addition to the open port of Pusan, Article 5 authorized the search in Kyongsang, Kyonggi, Chungchong, Cholla, and Hamgydng Provinces for two more suitable seaports for Japanese trade to be opened in October 1877.
The following year saw a Japanese fleet led by Special Envoy Kuroda Kiyotaka coming over to Korea, demanding an apology from the Joseon government and a commercial treaty between the two nations. The Korean government decided to accept the demand, in hope of importing some technologies to defend the country from any future invasions.
However, the treaty came out to be the first unequal treaty signed by Korea; It gave extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens in Korea, and forced the Korean government to open 3 ports to Japan, specifically Busan, Incheon and Wonsan. With the signing of its first unequal treaty, Korea became another easy hunt for many imperialistic powers; and later the treaty led Korea to be annexed by Japan.