By the Treaty of Portsmouth the Russian Government not only definitely relinquished all the political interests she had previously claimed to possess in Korea, but also recognized in all important particulars the rights acquired in the same country by Japan through the Conventions of February and August, 1904. Article Second of the Treaty stipulates: “The Imperial Russian Government, acknowledging that Japan possesses in Korea paramount political, military and economical interests, engages neither to obstruct nor interfere with the measures of guidance, protection and control which the Imperial Government of Japan may find it necessary to take in Korea.”
Thus did the war with Russia, which was fought over the relations between Japan and Korea as an issue of supreme importance, terminate the second main period in the history of these relations. The Chino-Japan war removed forever that foreign influence which had continued through centuries, not only to prevent the immediate realization of a true national independence on the part of Korea, but also to unfit the Korean Government to maintain such independence when conferred upon it as the gift of another nation. The Russo-Japanese war terminated the attempt of a more powerful foreign nation to supersede the controlling influence of Japan in Korea. At the same time it gave a convincing further demonstration of Korea’s inherent and hopeless inability to control herself, under any existing conditions of her government or of her system of civilization. Thus the provisions for a Japanese Protectorate, which shall secure for both nations the largest possible measure of good, offered to the Marquis Ito his difficult problem as Imperial Commissioner to Korea in November, 1905.
CHAPTER XI
THE COMPACT
It will need no argument for those familiar with the habitual ways of the Korean Government in dealing with foreign affairs to establish the necessity that Japan should make more definite, explicit, and comprehensive, the Protocols of February 23 and August 22, 1904. Foreign affairs have always been with the Emperor and Court of Korea a particularly favorable but mischievous sphere for intrigue and intermeddling. The Foreign Office has never had any real control over the agents of the government, who have been the tools of the Emperor in their dealings with foreign Legations. The Korean Foreign Minister in 1905 was not an efficient and responsible representative of either the intentions or the transactions of his own government; instructions were frequently sent direct from the Palace to Ministers in other countries; foreign Legations had, each one, a separate cipher to be used for such communications; and there were several instances of clandestine communication with agents abroad, even during the Russo-Japanese war. To guard, therefore, against the repetition of occurrences similar to those which had already cost her so dearly, Japan’s interests demanded that her control over the management of Korea’s foreign affairs should be undivided and unquestioned.
It was not, however, in the interests of Japan alone that the management of Korea’s foreign affairs was to pass out of her own hands. It was distinctly, as events are fast proving beyond a reasonable doubt, for the advantage of Korea herself. In any valid meaning of the word, Korea had never been “independent” of foreign influences, dominating over her and corrupting the officials within her own borders. For centuries these influences came chiefly from China; for a decade, chiefly from Russia and other Western nations. The Treaty of 1905 was also, just as distinctly—so, we believe, the events will ultimately prove—for the advantage of these Western nations, and of the entire Far East.
It is, therefore, highly desirable, not only as vindicating the honor of Marquis Ito and of the Japanese Government, but also as establishing the Protectorate of Japan over Korea upon foundations of veracity and justice, that the exact and full truth should be known and placed on record before the world, concerning the Convention of November, 1905. This is the more desirable because of the gross and persistent misrepresentations of the facts which have been repeated over and over again—chiefly by the same persons—down to the time of the appearance of the so-called Korean Commission at The Hague Conference of 1907.[33] His Majesty the Emperor (now ex-Emperor) of Korea has, indeed, publicly proclaimed his intention not to keep a treaty “made under duress” and through fears of “personal violence”; he has also made it appear that the signatures and the Imperial seal upon the document were fraudulently obtained. Meantime, he has sedulously (and, we believe, with such sincerity as his nature admits) cultivated and cherished the friendship of the Japanese Resident-General who negotiated, and who has administered affairs under, the Treaty. How he lost his crown, at the hands of his own Ministry, for his last violation of the most solemn provisions of the same treaty, is now a matter of universal history.
Marquis Ito arrived at Seoul, as the Representative of the Japanese Government, to conclude a new Convention with Korea, during the first week of November, 1905. He was the bearer of a letter from his own Emperor to the Emperor of Korea, which frankly explained the object of his mission. What follows is the substance of His Japanese Majesty’s letter.
“Japan, in self-defence and for the preservation of the peace and security of the Far East, had been forced to go to war with Russia; but now, after a struggle of twenty months, hostilities were ended. During their continuance the Emperor of Korea and his people, no doubt, shared the anxiety felt by the Emperor and people of Japan. In the mind of His Majesty, the Emperor of Japan, the most absorbing thought and purpose now was to safeguard the future peace and security of the two Empires, and to augment and strengthen the friendly relations existing between them. Unfortunately, however, Korea was not yet in a state of good defence, nor was the basis for a system of effective self-defence yet created. Her weakness in these regards was in itself a menace to the peace of the Far East as well as to her own security. That this was unhappily the case was a matter of as much regret to His Majesty as it could be to the Emperor of Korea; and for this reason the safety of Korea was as much a matter of anxiety to him as was that of his own country. His Majesty had already commanded his Government to conclude the Protocols of February and August, 1904, for the defence of Korea. Now, in order to preserve the peace which had been secured, and to guard against future dangers arising from the defenceless condition of Korea, it was necessary that the bonds which united the two countries should be closer and stronger than ever before. Having this end in view, His Majesty had commanded His Government to study the question and to devise means of attaining this desirable result. The preservation and protection of the dignity, privileges, and tranquillity of the Imperial House of Korea would, as a matter of course, be one of the first considerations kept in view.
“His Majesty felt sure that if the Emperor of Korea would carefully consider the general situation and its bearing upon the interests and welfare of his country and people, he would decide to take the advice now earnestly tendered to him.”