Ganghwado Treaty

Korea maintained a strong closed door policy to the world. France and United States had made several unsuccessful attempts to begin commerce with the Joseon Dynasty. When the Korean government was unwilling to respond favorably to the Japanese request, in 1875 their plan was put into action: the Unyo, a Japanese warship was dispatched to survey coastal waters without Korean permission.

When the Japanese warship, the Unyo, illegally entered the Korean waters near Ganghwado, it was fired upon by the garrison force. Using this incident as a pretext, the Japanese government sent a large squadron of warships to Korea in early 1876, threatening Korea while appeasing those in Japan who had been agitating for a war with Korea since 1869.

Facing an imminent war threat brought about by the Japanese, Korean government had no other way to sign the treaty. This was the Korea's first modern treaty, signed under the foreign pressure. Consisting of 12 articles, the treaty mainly recognized Korea as being as equally independent a country as Japan, required Korea to open up Busan Port and two other ports within 20 months and allow Japanese people to travel and trade freely throughout Korea, and stipulated that both counties exchange envoys and that Korea give Japan extraterritorial rights to the Japanese people residing in the treaty port.

Japan used this treaty for political purposes, namely, the opening of Wonsan Port on the east coast and Incheon Port on the west coast in order to prepare for possible Russian aggression. Following the signing of the Treaty of Ganghwa, Korea signed treaties with the United States (1882), Great Britain (1883), Germany (1883), Italy (1884), France (1886), Austria-Hungary (1892), Belgium (1901), and Denmark (1902). In 1907, the Japanese demanded that Emperor Gojong step down from the throne in favor of his son, Sunjong. Finally, in 1910, Korea signed contract of Annexation by Japan, and Japan declared that Korea was under Japanese rule.