PROBLEMS IN EXISTING STUDIES

IF THE ANNEXATION of Korea to Japan is a significant subject in the history of modern Korea, and especially of its “international relations,” it fails to draw as much attention as other topics. This lack of attention results from the tendency to approach the annexation as a step in the “process” or “institutionalization” of Japan's encroachment on Korea. According to this perspective, Korea-Japan relations had been a continuum of aggression by the latter ever since diplomatic relations were established with the Treaty of Kanghwa in 1876. From this standpoint, all of Japan's actions and activities in regard to Korea during this period were solid steps toward annexation in 1910. For people who endorse this approach to Korean history, the main focus lies on major incidents in Korea-Japan relations from 1876 to 1910, and their final outcome is seen, without much dissent, as being the “annexation.”

If, however, the annexation should be understood in terms of process and institutionalization, the following questions may be posed. First, apart from the controversy, as discussed in the previous chapter, regarding the idea that a single motive, such as expansion, can provide a linear explanation for Japan's Korea policy, what were the conditions Japan considered sufficient for carrying out the annexation? When Japan defeated China in 1895, it brought Korea under almost complete control, yet it failed to effect an annexation. Britain and Russia, the two traditional rivals in East Asian politics, contained Japan, mutually supporting the need for an independent Korea for their own selfish purposes. In 1905, Japan subdued Russia and fully occupied Korea, something that was approved by the powers. Such Korean nationalist resistance as the Righteous Army Movement during the period 1905–10 was quite insignificant from a military point of view. Yet an official annexation was not to happen for another five years. What, then, were the necessary and adequate conditions for the annexation?

In short, as Itō Hirobumi and Foreign Minister Komura Jutarō clearly indicated, Japan's main concern in the annexation was not Korea's domestic problems but “diplomatic relations.” During the protectorate period, conflicting opinions surfaced among Japanese political leaders concerning the Korean annexation, and the final decision waited until the last stage.