An Unfulfilled Expectation: Britain’s Response to the Question of Korean Independence, 1903-1905
Journal Title: International Journal of Korean History - Year 2018, Vol 23, Issue 1
Abstract
This article examines Britain’s response to the question of Korean independence amid Russo-Japanese rivalry between 1903 and 1905. Russo-Japanese tension reached its peak when Russians unilaterally seized and fortified Yongampo in 1903. Britain expected Korea to check the Russian penetration by opening Yongampo and the Yalu River to foreign commerce, but Korea delayed the opening until the country fell under Japanese occupation in March 1904. Korea’s reluctance to open the river also made Britain suspect Korea’s declaration of neutrality. Therefore, when the Russo-Japanese War broke out, Britain acted in cooperation with Japan when they forced Korea to accept Japanese control. Furthermore, since Korea failed to modernise the government, Britain believed that the country should be placed under the control of Japan. Although Kojong and the Korean government were seeking Britain’s support for the integrity of Korea, Britain approved Japan’s plan to make Korea a protectorate and tried to secure their commercial interest in the country.
Authors and Affiliations
Euy Suk Kwon
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP26461
- DOI https://doi.org/10.22372/ijkh.2018.23.1.27
- Views 349
- Downloads 11
Raising the Issue of ‘Modernity’ : ‘Colonial modernity’ theory as advanced by Japanese Korean Studies scholars and the background thereof
The manner in which the relationship between the colonial rule/period and ‘modernity’ should be perceived has been a hot-button issue in studies on the colonial period in Korea. Particular attention has been paid by so...
History and the Politics of Korean Reunification - Martin Hart-Landsberg, Korea: Division, Reunification & U.S. Foreign Policy (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1998), 266 pages
No Abstract
Korea and the Koreans in the Russian press of 1904-1905
The importance of Russian-Japanese war of 1904 – 1905 for the actualization of the image of Korea and the Koreans in Russian public thought is hard to overestimate. It was at that time, on the threshold of the fight f...
The formation of the Posa kongsin’s political position and social networks during the reign of King Sukchong
The Kyŏngsin hwanguk (, Reversal of the Political Situation in the Year of Kyŏngsin) was an incident which served as the impetus for the collapse of the long-existing structure of factional politics that had functi...
East Asian Regionalisms and Korea in the 1940’s
This paper seeks to consider the various types of regionalisms in East Asia during the 1940’s, and Korea’s position in the United States’ “Great China Policy” and demilitarization and democratization plans for Japan. Aft...