Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1907

The was concluded on 24 July 1907, between the Empire of Japan

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan was a Japanese political entity that existed during the period from the...

 and the Korean Empire

Korean Empire

The Greater Korean Empire was a former empire of Korea that succeeded the Joseon Dynasty that had ruled the nation for 500 years.In 1897, Emperor Gojong proclaimed the new entity at Gyeongungung Palace and oversaw the partially successful modernization of the military, economy, real property laws,...

.

The Korean Empire had become a protectorate

Protectorate

A protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...

 of Japan under the terms of the earlier Eulsa Treaty

Eulsa Treaty

The Eulsa Treaty or Japan-Korea Protectorate Treaty was made between the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire on 17 November 1905, influenced by the result of the Russo-Japanese War. The treaty in effect made Korea a protectorate of Japan. This treaty deprived Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty...

 on 1905, and had thus lost the right to conduct diplomatic exchanges with other countries. Korean Emperor Gojong

Gojong of Korea

Gojong , the Gwangmu Emperor was the twenty-sixth king of the Korean Joseon Dynasty and the first emperor of the Korean Empire.-King of the Joseon:...

 sent an envoy in secret to the Hague Conference on World Peace to protest Japan’s actions. In retaliation, on 18 July 1907, Japan made Emperor Gojong abdicate in favor of his son Sunjong

Sunjong of Korea

Sunjong, the Yunghui Emperor was the last emperor of the Joseon Dynasty and Korean Empire in Korea, ruling from 1907 until 1910....

.

Six days later, a new agreement was forced on the Korean government. Provisions in this new treaty gave the Japanese Resident-General

Resident-General of Korea

When Korea was a protectorate of Japan, Japan was represented by the Resident-General.-List of Residents-General:#Itō Hirobumi#Sone Arasuke#Terauchi Masatake...

 the right to appoint and dismiss high-ranking officials (article 4) and stipulated that all high-ranking officials appointed to the Korean government must be Japanese (article 5). This brought the internal government of Korea fully under the control of Japan. The unpublished section of the treaty also placed the Korean army under Japanese leadership, and handed over judicial and policing powers.

Translation of full text

"The Governments of Japan

Government of Japan

- Legislative branch :The National Diet of Japan is Japan's legislature. It consists of two houses: the House of Representatives of Japan and the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system....

 and Korea

Korea

Korea is a civilization and formerly unified nation currently divided into two states. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it borders China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait....

, with a view to the early attainment of prosperity and strength in Korea and the speedy promotion of the welfare of the Korean people, have agreed upon and concluded the follow stipulations:

• Article I. The Government of Korea shall follow the directions of the Resident General in connection with the reform of administration.
• Article II. Korea shall not enact any law or ordinance or carry out any administrative measure unless it has previous approval of the Resident General.
• Article III. The judicial affairs of Korea shall be kept distinct from ordinary administrative affairs.
• Article IV. No appointment or dismissal of Korean officials of high grade shall be made without the consent of the Resident General.
• Article V. Korea shall appoint to official positions such Japanese as are recommended by the Resident General.
• Article VI. Korea shall not engage any foreigner without the consent of the Resident general.
• Article VII. The first clause of the agreement between Japan and Korea, dated Aug. 22, 1904, is hereby abrogated."

Lord Itō Hirobumi

Ito Hirobumi

Prince was a Japanese statesman, Resident-General of Korea, four time Prime Minister of Japan and genrō. Itō was assassinated by An Jung-geun, a Korean nationalist who was against the Annexation of Korea by the Japanese Empire....

 [Marquess], Resident-General, July 24th, 40th year of the Meiji era [1907] (seal)

Sir Lee Wan-Yong

Lee Wan-Yong

Lee Wan-Yong was a Pro-Japanese minister of Korea, who signed the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, which placed Korea under Japanese rule in 1910....

, Prime Minister, July 24th, 11th year of the Gwangmu era [1907] (seal)

Diplomatic Memorandum (unpublished)

Based on the import of the Japan-Korea treaty of the 40th year of the Meiji era, the following items shall be enacted.

(1)　The folling courts, composed of people from both Japan and Korea, shall be newly established.

• 1 One located in Gyeongseong Seoul
  Seoul
  Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest city of South Korea. With a population of over 10 million, it is one of the world's largest cities. The Seoul National Capital Area, which includes the major port city of Incheon and most of Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million...
  
   or Suwon
  Suwon
  Suwon is the provincial capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. A major city of over a million inhabitants, Suwon lies approximately 30 kilometres south of Seoul...
  
  .

The and of the Court shall be Japanese.
Two of the and five of the shall be Japanese.

• 2 Three

One shall be located in the central region, and one each in the northern and southern regions.
Two of the Justices, one of the and five of the secretaries shall be Japanese.

• 3 Eight

One of these shall be located at each of the locations of the in the eight former
The and shall be Japanese.
32 of all attorneys and 80 of all secretaries shall be Japanese, and shall be allocated as appropriate given the degree of work required.

• 4 103

Thesе are to be located in the locations of important
One of the attorneys and one of the secretaries is to be Japanese.

(2) The following prisons shall be newly established.

• 1 Nine prisons

One prison shall be located in the same area as each of the district courts, and one prison on one of the islands. The shall be Japanese.
Half the prison staff, consisting of the and levels below, shall be Japanese.

(3) Military forces shall be arranged as follows.

• The of the army, assigned to guarding the Emperor and other duties, shall be disbanded.
• Educated shall be assigned to the Japanese army for training in the field, except where it is necessary for them to remain in the Korean army.
• Appropriate provisions shall be made in Japan for training Korean soldiers to become officers.

(4) All those currently in the service of Korea with the position of or shall be removed from their duties.

(5) The following Japanese shall be appointed as officials in the Korean and .
for each department

• The
• One and one
• For the cabinet, several and
• For each department, several secretaries and assistant secretaries
• An for each province
• One for each province
• Several for each province

The matter of other appointments of Japanese as officials in the areas of finance, policing and technology shall be set down by a later agreement.

Sources

• Much of this article was translated from the equivalent article in the Japanese Wikipedia, as it was on 5 September 2006.