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| VII. THE GROWTH AND TRIBULATIONS OF
MODERN KOREA |
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| 2. Economic Aggression by World Powers
and the Movement to Protect the Right to Self-Reliance |
| (1) Unequal Treaties and Movements to Amend Them |
All of the treaties that the Choson government concluded
with Japan since 1876 were unequal in content. The Treaty
of Amity stipulated that three ports including Pusan should
be opened to Japanese merchants to build houses and to
engage freely in commerce. In addition, Japanese criminals
were placed under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Consul.
As for trade regulations, no customs duties were to be
imposed on trade with Japan and Japanese merchants could
engage in commercial activities with Japanese currency
in the open ports.
The unequal treaties concluded with Japan not only provided
a legal springboard for Japan's political and economic
aggressions against Choson but also negatively influenced
future treaties signed with the United States, China,
Germany, England and France. Thus, in a short time, Choson
concluded unequal treaties with world powers which greatly
infringed upon the political and economical autonomy of
Choson. |
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Previous of the
Korea-Japan Friendship Treaty
: Signed in 1876, it was the first modern treaty
between the two countries and led the way to the
opening of Korean ports. |
The United States officially
established diplomatic relations with Korea on
May 22. 1882, when commodore Robert W. Shufeldt
negotiated and signed the Treaty of Peace, Amity,
Commerce and Navigation at Chemulp'o (present-day
inch'on) |
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The government, realizing that the treaty
with Japan was responsible for many difficulties, made
many efforts to amend the article in the treaty which
exempted Japan from paying tariffs. The government, while
sending emissaries like Kim Hong-chip, to negotiate with
Japan, also lobbied for diplomatic assistance from China
and the U.S. Through these efforts a new treaty with Japan
was reached in 1883.
However, the treaty concluded with Japan at this time
was not equal either. Although Japan was obliged to pay
tariffs, they were marginal and the rights of the Japanese
consular to execute legal judgements and to reside in
the open ports remained unchanged. |
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| (2) Plundering Trade and Grain Embargo |
The other world powers also forced Choson to conclude
unequal treaties which therefore caused an unfair trade
arrangement. Among them, merchants from Japan and China
were the cruelest. For example, Chinese merchants bought
British cotton goods at low prices in Shanghai and sold
them at high prices to make tremendous profits, and also
carried out smuggling activities under the protection
of Yuan Shi-kai.
The Japanese merchants at first, acted as intermediaries
in trade by buying and selling British goods but, with
the gradual development of the domestic industry, Japan
exported and sold Japanese goods. They mainly sold cotton
goods, matches, liquor and chiefly bought rice, gold,
cowhide and beans.
The Chinese and Japanese merchants competed in trading
with Choson. But 50% of the amount of Choson imports and
90% of the amount of exports went to Japan. Rice from
Choson, in particular, was an indispensable trade item
to Japan where industry was developing and cheap rice
was demanded in large quantities.
As a result of the plundering trade activities of the
Japanese merchants in importing rice, the poor farmers
and the laborers of Choson suffered the most. They had
commonly experienced shortages of food but when rice began
to be exported to Japan, the farmers and workers were
even more hard-pressed. To make matters worse, they had
to buy and use expensive industrial goods imported from
Japan. Thus, in many areas, farmers and laborers frequently
demanded that Japanese merchants be prohibited from trading
and the export of rice to Japan.
The government foresaw this situation and wanted to insert
a grain embargo clause in their treaty with Japan, but
due to Japanese opposition, such efforts failed. They
were, however, able to obtain a provision which stated
that in cases of famine or other such situations, with
one month prior notification to Japan, grain export might
be temporarily suspended.
With the above provision, local governors operated the
measure to block exports of rice and soybeans. Among them,
the embargo of the Hamgyong and Hwanghae provinces were
the most famous.
When the exports of rice and soyabeans were suspended
as a result of such embargos, Japanese merchants made
collective protests and appealed to their home government
to add diplomatic pressure. The Japanese government threatened
that unless the Choson government abolished the embargo
and paid for damages to the Japanese merchants it would
attack Choson by mobilizing its warships.
The Choson government, under Japanese pressure, was forced
to lift the embargos and make indemnities to Japanese
merchants. However, the unjustifiable pressure and plundering
of grain by Japan planted deeper and stronger anti-Japanese
feelings in the hearts of the Choson farmers and laborers.
The peasant army which rose up with cries to expel foreign
powers reflected this sentiment. |
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| (3) Infiltration of Foreign Merchants and the Movement
to Safeguard Commercial Rights |
The trade activities of the Chinese and Japanese merchants
naturally infringed upon Korean merchants' activities
which had grown in the latter period of Choson. Therefore,
in the open ports and in important cities throughout the
country, merchants of Choson, China, and Japan repeatedly
engaged in fierce competitive battles around commercial
activities rights.
The Chinese merchants, on the basis of their superior
capital, engaged in many activities in Inch'on and Seoul.
They received the protection of Yuan Shi-kai and occupied
the central streets of Seoul and carried out trade by
sailing between Shanghai and Inch'on.
The Japanese merchants developed their activities in the
open ports of Pusan and Wonsan, then gradually infiltrated
into the interior and advanced to central Seoul. They
received financial support from the Bank of Japan which
was set up in Seoul and Pusan and took control of trade
by traveling between Osaka and each of the open ports.
The Choson merchants engaged in domestic and foreign trade
while confronting the Chinese and Japanese merchants,
but they were soon driven out of the important commercial
activities. Thus, they founded companies or Kaekchu corporations
to collectively challenge the Chinese and Japanese merchants
and sometimes even closed up shops to protest against
illegal persons residing in Choson or unlawful commercial
activities by the Chinese and Japanese merchants.
But the Choson merchants could not defeat the Chinese
and Japanese merchants who infiltrated Choson through
a strong screen known as extraterritoriality. Moreover,
under foreign intervention, the government of Choson was
unable to adequately protect its merchants, and Choson
merchants could not help but reduce the sphere of their
activities. The cries of the peasants army and the Hwalbin-dang
to expel the foreign merchants out of Choson was a reflection
of the resentment of Choson merchants who went bankrupt
due to the infiltration of the foreigners, in particular,
the Japanese merchants. |
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| (4) The Succession of the Rights to Choson's National
Resources by the World Powers and the Movement to Recover
Them |
The world powers took away various economic rights from
Choson. In particular, when King Kojong was taking refuge
in the Russian Legation and was unable to exercise the
sovereign right to govern, the rights to Choson's railroads,
mines, and forests went into the hands of Russia, the
United States, Japan, France, England, and Germany.
Russia possessed the rights to the mines in Kyongwon and
Chongsong plus the lumbering rights in the basins of the
Yalu and Ulung Island. The United States held the rights
to construction of the Seoul-Inch'on railroad, the mining
rights to the Unsan gold mine plus the rights to install
electricity and water works in Seoul. Japan obtained construction
rights to the Seoul-Pusan railroad, gold mining and coastal
fishing rights. France obtained rights to construct the
Seoul-Sinuiju railroad. England held the mining rights
to the Unsan gold mines and Germany had the mining rights
to the Tanghyon gold mine.
When the rights to a country's natural resources, which
are the basis for building a powerful nation, were transferred
into the hands of other nations, the people began to denounce
the government as corrupt and incapable. The people demanded
the recovery of these rights which had been taken away.
The Independence Council urged, through its publication
of the Independent Newspaper, that the government rid
itself of a policy of foreign dependency policy and adopt
a diplomatic policy of self-reliance. They also advocated
the recovery of these various rights, which had been taken
away by foreign powers, and urged the development of natural
resources in order to enhance the nation's own strength.
The Hwalbin-dang and the local people also urged the government
to protect national resources. They pointed out that railroads
are like the artery of the state and construction rights
to them should not be given to foreigners and, therefore,
the Seoul-Pusan and the Seoul-Sinuiju railways should
be recovered.
The cries for the recovery of national resources from
the people in the cities and rural communities gave impetus
to the government to recover the construction rights to
the Seoul-Pusan and Seoul-Sinuiju railroads. Hence, encouraging
private capitalists to participate in railroad construction
and mine development. However, due to the ever increasing
infiltration of Japanese forces, which grew after the
expulsion of the other invading powers, the efforts for
the development of self-reliance by Choson failed. |
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