Korean Empire

Korean Empire was a country in East Asia that existed from 1897 to 1910. It shares its borders with Qing and Russian Empire. And has access to the East Sea and the Yellow Sea.

Background
Korea during the Joseon dynasty (1392–1897) was interfered with client kingdom of the Qing dynasty (1636–1912) in China, even though Joseon was managed independently from China by the King. Towards the end of the 19th century, influence over Korea was increasingly an area of conflict between the Qing and Japan. The First Sino-Japanese War marked the rapid decline of any power the Joseon state had managed to hold against foreign interference, as the battles of the conflict were fought in Korea and surrounding waters. With its newfound preeminence over the waning and weak Qing dynasty, Japan had delegates negotiate the Treaty of Shimonoseki with the Qing. By signing the treaty, a move designed to prevent the southern expansion of Russia, Japan competed for control over the Liaodong Peninsula and Korea with the Qing. Russia viewed this agreement as an act against its interests in northeastern China and eventually brought France and Germany to its side, pushing for the Liaodong Peninsula to be repatriated by the Qing.

At the time, Japan was powerless to resist such foreign pressure, especially by nations that it considered far more advanced and which it sought to emulate, and as such relinquished its claim to Liaodong Peninsula. With the success of the three-country intervention (Russia, France, Germany), Russia emerged as another major power in East Asia, replacing the Qing dynasty as the entity that the Joseon court's many government officials advocated close ties with to prevent more Japanese meddling in Korean politics. Queen Min (posthumously titled Empress Myeongseong), the consort of King Gojong, also recognized this change and formally established closer diplomatic relations with Russia to counter Japanese influence.

Queen Min began to emerge as a key figure in higher-level Korean counteraction against Japanese influence. He subsequently orchestrated the assassination of Queen Min on October 8, 1895, at her residence at the Geoncheong Palace, the official sleeping quarters of the king within Gyeongbok Palace.

Proclamation of Empire
With the assassination of his wife Queen Min, King Gojong and the Crown Prince (who later became Emperor Sunjong) fled to the Russian legation in 1896. From 1894 until the king's return from Russian protection, Korea underwent another major upheaval under the progressive leaders Inoue Kaoru installed after Japan's victory in the Sino-Japanese War. The new laws passed by progressives and reformers in the royal cabinet forced through long-desired reforms aimed at revamping Korea's antiquated society. These laws were called the Gabo Reform, referring to the year (1894) in which they began.

Meanwhile, the new reforms aimed at modernizing Korean society soon attracted controversy from within. Anti-Japanese sentiment, which had already become entrenched in the minds of commoners and aristocrats alike during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98), became pervasive in the royal court and upper echelons of society following the Ganghwa Treaty of 1876 and soon extended explosively to most Koreans following perceived Japanese meddling in court politics and the assassination of Queen Min. However, the new and modern reforms pushed forward by the pro-Japanese progressives, the most controversial of which was the mandatory cutting of the traditional top knot, ignited further resentment and discontent. This led to the uprising of the year of Eulmi, as temporary armies aimed at avenging the assassination of Queen Min formed.

In 1897, King Gojong, yielding to rising pressure from both overseas and the demands of the Independence Association-led public opinion, returned to Gyeongungung (modern-day Deoksugung). There, he proclaimed the founding of the "Great Korean Empire", officially re-designated the national title as such, and declared the new era name Gwangmu (meaning warrior of light), effectively severing Korea's superficial historic ties as a tributary of Qing China, which Korea had adhered to since the prior Manchurian invasion in 1636. Gojong became the Gwangmu Emperor, the first imperial head of state and hereditary sovereign of the Korean Empire. This marked the complete end of the old world order and traditional tributary system in the Far East. Korea's new status as an empire meant "Complete independence from Qing's sphere of influence" which means Korea was not influenced from Qing externally according to the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895 and also implemented the "full and complete" independence according to the treaty. Many symbolic items that marked Korea's political subordination to China were modified or destroyed. For example, the Yeongeunmun gate and Mohwagwan were demolished, representing an end of tributary relations with China. The Independence Gate was erected at the site of the former Yeongeunmun.

The name of the Empire, Daehan Jeguk, literally meaning "Great Han Empire", was derived from Samhan, specifically the Three Kingdoms of Korea (not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula), in the tradition of naming new states after historic states. The significance of the declaration of an Empire, in the Korean understanding of the situation was to declare Korea's end of tributary relationship with the Qing dynasty. Usually, the usage of Emperor was reserved only for the emperor of China, the Son of Heaven. Korean dynasties had given tribute to Chinese dynasties. When Japan experienced the Meiji Restoration, the Emperor of Japan was declared the source of sovereignty in the Japanese government. Upon receiving news of the Meiji restoration from Japan, the Korean government refused to acknowledge the change. Not only did it challenge the primacy of the Qing Chinese emperor as the symbolic suzerains of Korea, The change in title for Korea to empire only became possible after the Sino-Japanese war.

On August 22, 1904, the first treaty between Japan and Korea, known as First Japan–Korea Convention, was signed. The Taft–Katsura Agreement (also known as the Taft–Katsura Memorandum) was issued on July 17, 1905 and was not actually a secret pact or agreement between the United States and Japan, According to the memorandum, the Japanese Empire recognizes American colonial rule over the Philippines, and the United States allows the Japanese Empire to invade the Korean Empire and rule the Korean Peninsula as a 'protective territory'. Based on this, Japan was able to simply usurp the diplomatic rights of the Korean Empire through the Eulsa Treaty on November 17, 1905, and the United States effectively tolerated this.

In September 1905, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War and firmly establishing Japan's consolidation of influence on Korea.

The empire began with the law and perception of the international system at the time stacked against what was a slowly modernizing country. In the end, a weak military, and the remaining legacy of Korea's tributary relationship with Qing held Korea back from fending off foreign encroachment. Eventually the Gwangmu Emperor was forced to abdicate in 1907 in favor of his son, Emperor Sunjong, who became the second and last emperor of Korea, due to his attempt to send delegates to the Hague Peace Conference (Hague Convention of 1907) in violation of the arbitrarily implemented Eulsa Treaty. The delegation at The Hague was led by Yi Sang-seol and his deputy Yi Tjoune, Yi Wi-jong presented a diplomatic attempt to reclaim the Empire's sovereignty. Although Korea pleaded its case to the powerful members of colonial elite nations at The Hague, the view of protectorate status of Japan from the growing Japanese influences over Korea seemed natural and beneficial at the height of colonialism in the first decade of the twentieth century to the Westerners.

On August 22, 1910, the Korean Empire was annexed by Japan with the forced Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, beginning a 35-year period of Japanese colonial rule which stripped Korea's sovereignty.

Family

 * South Korea — son.
 * North Korea — son.

Friends

 * Russian Empire
 * Qing
 * Denmark
 * Belgium

Neutral

 * German Empire

Enemies

 * Japanesse Impire