Why did Japan decide to annex Korea? What did Korea have that Japan wanted?

https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Japan-decide-to-annex-Korea-What-did-Korea-have-that-Japan-wanted

Alex Kim, I am just a guy with an avid interest in Korea and its history

Answered February 17, 2019

I wrote a lot in this answer, a lot more than I initially intended. So, if you want a short answer, skip down to the bottom to the conclusion.

I forget who exactly, but I remember reading a quote by a Japanese government official at the time that went something like, “Chosēn (Korea) is like a dagger pointing at the heart of Japan.”

On its own, Korea wasn’t much of a problem. After all, by the time it was made a Japanese protectorate in 1905 and annexed in 1910, Imperial Japan had become a full-fledged industrialized empire while Korea was only beginning to make some progress toward modernization. On the surface, it would seem Japanese officials were almost paranoid to think Korea would pose a threat to Japan anytime soon.

But, while Korea internally was struggling to develop, it had made considerable progress diplomatically. Realizing that the Manchus no longer had a monopoly of power in the region, Korea turned to Western powers for support, not just in its development efforts, but also in counter-balancing the rising Japanese threat. The Korean queen-consort, Queen Min, led these efforts. Under her guidance, Korea sent a considerable number of diplomatic missions and students all over the world. Most notably, she focused on Czarist Russia and, interestingly enough, made overtures to the United States, a known “ally” of Japan, in hopes that the Russians and the Americans would be able to check Japan’s influence in Korea. More on Queen Min in a bit.

These efforts were hardly a secret, and Japan grew extremely wary of Korea’s diplomatic activities. Not only did these efforts threaten to box Japan out of Korea and the mainland, but Korea could even become a platform for a Western campaign against Japan. This was especially a risk given Russia’s aggressive expansions eastward.

And, of course, the Imperial Japanese government was well aware that it was only a matter of time before Korea itself would grow powerful enough to holds its own against Japan. Conflicts within the government between Confucian conservatives and pro-modernization progressives had slowed down progress in Korea, a problem that Japan had solved earlier through a bloody but decisive civil war. But, even without a civil war, beginning in the latter half of the 1800s, Korea had begun making its first steps toward modernization, thanks to the leadership of the queen-consort, Queen Min.

To put it simply, Min was instrumental in Korea’s early modernization efforts. Her father-in-law, Heungseon Daewongun, who was the de facto ruler over Korea, had married her to his son, King Gojong, thinking that she, as the daughter of a lesser-known noble house, would pose little resistance against him. Turns out, she was a lot stronger than she let on, and she ultimately “overthrew” Daewongun and ruled through her husband (clearly Gojong wasn’t a strong guy).

Min was a progressive, but a practical one. Being an aristocrat herself, she knew that she couldn’t just uproot the established order overnight. But, at the same time, she knew change had to happen or else Korea was doomed. As mentioned before, she was the one to have spearheaded the efforts to establish relations with Western powers, specifically with Russia and the U.S. For the latter, she sent a cousin on a fact-finding mission to San Francisco — perhaps one of the first times in history a Korean has ventured to the Western Hemisphere — to learn about the West and what made them so great. Here is an excerpt of his report to her when he returned:

I was born in the dark. I went out into the light, and, your Majesty, it is my displeasure to inform you that I have returned to the dark. I envision a (Seoul) of towering buildings filled with Western establishments that will place herself back above the Japanese barbarians. Great things lie ahead for this Kingdom, great things. But we must take action, your Majesty, without hesitation, to further modernize this still ancient kingdom.

Min would take this report to heart, actively sending more fact-finding missions abroad, including to Japan. Under her patronage, the Korean government managed to reform its education system to focus less on Confucian teachings and more on the sciences, the Korean alphabet Hangul, and Korean history. To that end, she invited numerous foreigners, including Christian missionaries, to help teach students and advise these efforts. A notable product of this was the establishment of an all-girls university — Ewha University — which today is one of Korea’s most prestigious universities.

Moreover, Queen Min played a huge role in opening the Korean ports to nearly all Western nations and established several government institutions to regulate them. After Japan had forced Korea to an “unequal treaty,” Japanese merchants had gained a monopoly over Korean trade, but with these reforms, Japanese influence had become watered down and, later, a growing Korean merchant class had retaken control over Korean markets.

And, finally, one of Min’s long-standing projects was the modernize the outdated Korean military. To that end, Korea imported weapons predominately from the U.S., while seeking Russia’s support in reforming and training a new Korean army, turning an army still carrying spears and bows into this:

^A platoon of Russian-advised Korean riflemen, circa 1904.

Needless to say, by the 1890s, Korea was well on its way to becoming a modernized nation. Of course, that isn’t to say Korea was anywhere near Japan’s level yet, but the point is that Korea was trying to be. And, under Queen Min, it very well would have.

Japan, of course, couldn’t allow this to happen, so it systematically sought to hinder Korea’s progress, starting with brutally assassinating Queen Min in broad daylight, reportedly raping her alive and dead and shredding her body into several pieces. This left the weak-minded and now-heartbroken King Gojong to flee to the Russian legation in Seoul, a pretty good metaphor for Korea as a whole taking cover under Russia’s protection from Japan’s blatant aggression.

Then, in 1905, Japan waged a war against Russia and, to the shock of the world and the horror of the Koreans, won. Throughout this time, Korea had constantly requested American intervention against Japan, but, President Teddy Roosevelt ignored these requests and instead backed Japan’s efforts, largely because he hoped to prevent Russia from controlling East Asia. This, of course, would come back to bite the Americans, but, until then, Korea was left alone and still too weak to do anything about it. And, in 1910, Japan put the Korean royal family under house-arrest and dissolved the Korean government, thus annexing Korea.

Conclusion

I know this is a lot to take in. But I figured that a lot of people will provide short answers to this question, so I decided to provide a long one with more background. But ultimately, it comes down to this: Japan annexed Korea not because Korea had anything that Japan wanted particularly. Rather, Japan at the time was concerned that if Western influence prevailed in Korea and Korea was allowed to develop and modernize, Japan’s imperial ambitions, as well as Japan itself, could be at risk. Of course, more land and resources is always a benefit of expansion, but in the early days of Japanese imperialism, taking Korea was just as much about defending the Japanese homeland as it was offensive, if not more. It was only after Korea’s annexation when Imperial Japan truly began to look into waging a war of conquest against China and the mainland.

https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Japan-decide-to-annex-Korea-What-did-Korea-have-that-Japan-wanted/log