The , signed on 9 June 1896, was the second of three agreements signed between the Empire of Japan

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 and the Empire of Russia

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 concerning disputes regarding their sphere of influence

Sphere of influence

In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is a spatial region or conceptual division over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....

 over Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

.

With pro-Japanese and pro-Russian factions within the Joseon dynasty

Joseon Dynasty

Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

 competing for power, the increasingly unstable political situation in Korea was endangering the economic and strategic interests of both Japan and Russia. After the assassination of Empress Myeongseong

Empress Myeongseong

Empress Myeongseong , also known as Queen Min, was the first official wife of King Gojong, the twenty-sixth king of the Joseon dynasty of Korea...

, Korean Emperor Gojong had taken refuge in the Russian consulate in Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

 at the invitation of Russian envoy Karl Ivanovich Weber

Karl Ivanovich Weber

Karl Ivanovich Weber was a diplomat of the Russian Empire and a personal friend to King Gojong of Korea's Joseon Dynasty...

, and Russia had thus attained a paramount influence over Korean politics at the time. This was confirmed in the Komura-Waeber Memorandum, which granted Russia the right to station four companies of troops in Korea, and required that Japan recognize Korea's new "pro-Russian faction" cabinet led by Yi 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....

.

Visiting during the coronation ceremonies

Coronation

A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...

 for Russian Tsar Nicholas II,the Japanese delegation discussed the growing friction over Korea, and proposed that the Korean peninsula

Korean Peninsula

The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...

 be divided at the 38th parallel

38th parallel north

The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean...

, should Japanese and Russian troops be forced to occupy Korea. The proposal was rejected, but the concept was resurrected by Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 premier Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

 many years later at the Yalta Conference

Yalta Conference

The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...

 negotiations with the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

The Yamagata-Lobanov Agreement was signed in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 by ex-Prime Minister of Japan

Prime Minister of Japan

The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...

 Yamagata Aritomo

Yamagata Aritomo

Field Marshal Prince , also known as Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and twice Prime Minister of Japan. He is considered one of the architects of the military and political foundations of early modern Japan. Yamagata Aritomo can be seen as the father of Japanese...

, and Russian Foreign Minister, Prince Alexei Lobanov-Rostovsky

Alexei Lobanov-Rostovsky

Prince Alexey Borisovich Lobanov-Rostovsky was a Russian statesman, probably best remembered for having concluded the Li-Lobanov Treaty with China and for his publication of the Russian Genealogical Book ....

. The Agreement in effect guaranteed Korean independence through a tacit co-protectorate

Protectorate

In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...

 maintained by both Japan and Russia, with the aim of preserving Korea as a buffer state

Buffer state

A buffer state is a country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater powers, which by its sheer existence is thought to prevent conflict between them. Buffer states, when authentically independent, typically pursue a neutralist foreign policy, which distinguishes them from satellite...

 between Japan, and Russian interests in Manchuria

Manchuria

Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...

 and the Russian Maritime Provinces

Primorsky Krai

Primorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok...

. The Agreement also stated a joint intention to encourage fiscal reform in Korea, promote the formation of a modern police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 and army

Army

An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...

, and to maintain telegraph lines.

The Yamagata-Lobanov Agreement was superseded by the Nishi-Rosen Agreement

Nishi-Rosen Agreement

' was an agreement signed between the Empire of Japan and the Empire of Russia on April 25, 1898 concerning disputes over Korea.With Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, and increasing influence in domestic Korean politics, tensions continued to rise between Japan and Russia over...

of 1898.