The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876 (also known as the Japan–Korea Treaty of Amity in Japan and the Treaty of Ganghwa Island in Korea) was made between representatives of the
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
and the
Kingdom of Joseon
Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
in 1876.
[Chung, Young-lob (2005). . "...the initial opening of Korea's borders to the outside world came in the form of the Korea-Japan Treaty of Amity (the so-called Ganghwa Treaty)."] Negotiations were concluded on February 26, 1876.
[Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921–1922 (1922). ; "Treaty between Japan and Korea, dated February 26, 1876."]
In Korea,
Heungseon Daewongun
Heungseon Daewongun (; 24 January 1821 – 22 February 1898) was the title of Yi Ha-eung, the regent of Joseon during the minority of Emperor Gojong in the 1860s. Until his death, he was a key political figure of late Joseon Korea. He was also ca ...
, who instituted a policy of increased isolationism against the European powers, was forced into retirement by his son
King Gojong and Gojong's wife,
Empress Myeongseong.
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
had already made several unsuccessful attempts to begin commerce with the Joseon dynasty during the Daewongun's era. However, after Daewongun was removed from power, many new officials took power who supported the idea of opening commerce with foreigners.
During the political instability in Korea, Japan developed a
plan to open and exert influence on Korea before a European power could. In 1875, the plan was put into action: the
''Un'yō'', a small Japanese warship, was dispatched to present a
show of force
A show of force is a military operation intended to warn (such as a warning shot) or to intimidate an opponent by showcasing a capability or will to act if one is provoked. Shows of force may also be executed by police forces and other armed, n ...
and survey coastal waters without Korean permission.
Background
Ascendancy of Daewongun
In January 1864,
King Cheoljong died without an heir, and
Gojong ascended the throne at the age of 12. However, King Gojong was too young, and the new king's father, Yi Ha-ŭng, became the Daewongun or lord of the great court and ruled Korea in his son's name. Originally, the term Daewongun referred to any person who was not actually the king but whose son took the throne. The Daewongun initiated reforms to strengthen the monarchy at the expense of the ''
yangban
The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon period. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil officials and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats wh ...
'' (aristocrat) class.
Even before the 19th century, the Koreans had maintained diplomatic relations only with its
suzerain
A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy and economic relations of another subordinate party or polity, but allows i ...
, China, and with neighboring Japan. Foreign trade was mainly limited to China and was conducted at designated locations along the
China–Korea border, and with Japan through the ''
waegwan'' in Pusan. By the mid-19th century, Westerners had come to refer to Korea as the ''Hermit Kingdom''. The Daewongun was determined to continue Korea's traditional isolationist policy and to purge the kingdom of any foreign ideas that had infiltrated the nation. The disastrous events occurring in China, including the
First
First most commonly refers to:
* First, the ordinal form of the number 1
First or 1st may also refer to:
Acronyms
* Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array
* Far Infrared a ...
(1839–1842) and
Second Opium Wars (1856–1860), reinforced his determination to isolate Korea from the rest of the world.
Western encroachment
From the early-to mid-19th century, Western vessels began to make frequent appearances in Korean waters, surveying sea routes and seeking trade. The Korean government was extremely wary and referred to the vessels as ''strange-looking ships.'' Consequently, several incidents took place. In June 1832, a ship from the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
, the ''Lord Amherst'', appeared off the coast of
Hwanghae Province
Hwanghae Province (''Hwanghae-do'' ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon era. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Haeju. The regional name for the province was Haeseo (). It is a reg ...
seeking trade but was refused. In June 1845, another British warship, , surveyed the coast of
Jeju Island
Jeju Island (Jeju language, Jeju/) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of , which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province.
The i ...
and
Jeolla Province
Jeolla Province (, ) was one of the historical Eight Provinces of Korea during the Kingdom of Joseon in southwestern Korea. It consisted of the modern South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and Gwangju Metropolitan City as well as J ...
. The following month, the Korean government filed a protest with British authorities in Guangzhou through the Chinese government. In June 1846, three French warships dropped anchor off the coast of
Chungcheong Province
Chungcheong Province (; ) was one of the Eight Provinces (Korea), eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Chungcheong was located in the southwest of Korea. The provincial capital was located at Gongju, which had been the capital o ...
and conveyed a letter protesting persecution of Catholics in the country. In April 1854, two armed Russian vessels sailed along the eastern coast of
Hamgyong Province
Hamgyong Province (; ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Hamgyong was located in the northeast of Korea. The provincial capital was Hamhung.
Names
The province was first established as Yŏnggil () in 1413. It wa ...
, causing some deaths and injuries among the Koreans they encountered. The incident prompted the Korean government to issue a ban forbidding the people of the province from having any contact with foreign vessels.
In January and July 1866, ships manned by the German adventurer
Ernst J. Oppert appeared off the coast of Chungcheong Province seeking trade. In August 1866, an American merchant ship, the ''
General Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...
'', appeared off the coast of
Pyongan Province
Pyongan Province (; ) was one of Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon dynasty. Pyongan was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Pyongyang.
History
Pyongan Province was formed in 1413. Its name derived from the name ...
, steaming along the
Taedong River
The Taedong River () is a large river in North Korea. The river rises in the Rangrim Mountains of the country's north where it then flows southwest into Korea Bay at Namp'o.Suh, Dae-Sook (1987) "North Korea in 1986: Strengthening the Soviet ...
to the provincial capital of Pyongyang, and asked permission to trade. Local officials refused to enter into trade talks and demanded the ship's departure. A Korean official was then taken hostage aboard the vessel and its crew members fired guns at enraged Korean officials and civilians onshore. The crew then landed ashore and plundered the town, killing seven Koreans in the process. The governor of the province
Pak Kyu-su ordered his forces to destroy the ship. During the event, the ''General Sherman'' ran aground on a sandbar and Korean forces burned the ship and killed the ship's entire crew of 23. In 1866, after the execution of several of its Catholic missionaries and Korean Catholics, the French launched a
punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beha ...
against Korea. In 1871, the Americans also launched
an expedition to Korea. However, the Koreans continued to adhere to isolationism and refused to negotiate to open up the country.
Japanese attempts to establish relations with Korea
During the
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
, Japan's relations and trade with Korea were conducted through intermediaries with the
Sō family in
Tsushima. A Japanese outpost called the ''waegwan'' was allowed to be maintained in Tongnae near Pusan. The traders were confined to the outpost and no Japanese were allowed to travel to the Korean capital at Seoul. During the aftermath of the Meiji restoration in late 1868, a member of the Sō daimyō informed the Korean authorities that a new government had been established and that an envoy would be sent from Japan.
In 1869, the envoy from the Meiji government arrived in Korea and carried a letter requesting the establishment of a goodwill mission between the two countries. It contained the seal of the Meiji government rather than the seals that had been authorized for use by the Korean Court for the Sō family. It also used the character ''ko'' (皇) rather than ''
taikun
, spelled tycoon in English language sources from the 1860s, is an archaic Japanese term of respect. Its literal meaning is "Great Lord/Prince" or "Supreme Commander". In official documents, it was written .
The term originally derived from th ...
'' (大君) to refer to the Japanese emperor. The Koreans used that character to refer only to the Chinese emperor, and for them, it implied the Japanese ruler's ceremonial superiority to the Korean monarch which would make the Korean monarch a vassal or subject of the Japanese ruler. The Japanese were, however, just reacting to their domestic political situation in which the shogun had been replaced by the emperor. The Koreans remained in the Sinocentric world in which China was at the center of interstate relations and as a result refused to receive the envoy. The bureau of foreign affairs wanted to change those arrangements to one based on modern state-to-state relations.
Ganghwa incident

On the morning of September 20, 1875, the Japanese gunboat began surveying the Western coast of Korea. The ship reached
Ganghwa Island
Ganghwa Island (), also Ganghwado, is an island in Ganghwa County, Incheon, South Korea. It is in the Yellow Sea and in an estuary of the Han River.
The island is separated from Gimpo (on the South Korean mainland) by a narrow channel spanned ...
, which had been a site of violent confrontations between the Koreans and foreign forces during the previous decade. The memories of those confrontations were very fresh, and there was little question that the Korean garrison would shoot at any approaching foreign ship. Nonetheless, Commander Inoue ordered a small boat to launch and put ashore a party on Kanghwa Island to request water and provisions.
The Korean forts opened fire. The ''Un'yō'' brought its superior firepower to bear and silenced the Korean guns. After bombarding the Korean fortifications, the shore party torched several houses on the island and exchanged fire with Korean troops. The Japanese were armed with modern rifles and quickly routed the Koreans who carried matchlock muskets. Thirty-five Korean soldiers were left dead. The ''Un'yo'' then attacked another Korean fort on
Yeongjong Island
Yeongjong Island () is an island in Jung District, Incheon, South Korea. It contains Incheon International Airport as well as small villages, farms, and beaches.
The previously separate Yongyu, Sammok, and Sinbul Islands have been joined to Yeon ...
and withdrew back to Japan.
News of the incident only reached the Japanese government eight days later on September 28, and the following day the government decided to dispatch warships to Pusan to protect Japanese residents there. There were also debates within the Japanese government as to whether or not to send a mission to Korea to settle the incident.
Treaty provisions

Japan and Korea signed the 'Japan Korea Treaty of Amity' on 26 February 1876. Japan employed
gunboat diplomacy
Gunboat diplomacy is the pursuit of foreign policy objectives with the aid of conspicuous displays of naval power, implying or constituting a direct threat of warfare should terms not be agreeable to the superior force.
The term originated in ...
to press Korea to sign this
unequal treaty
The unequal treaties were a series of agreements made between Asian countries—most notably Qing dynasty, Qing China, Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Japan and Joseon, Joseon Korea—and Western countries—most notably the United Kingdom of Great ...
. The pact opened up Korea, as Commodore Matthew Perry's fleet of
Black Ships
The Black Ships (in , Edo period term) were the names given to both Portuguese merchant ships and American warships arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries respectively.
In 1543, Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a ...
had opened up Japan in 1853. According to the treaty, it ended Joseon's status as a
tributary state
A tributary state is a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power (the suzerain). This token often ...
of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
and opened three ports to Japanese trade. The treaty also granted the Japanese people many of the same rights such as
extraterritoriality
In international law, extraterritoriality or exterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations.
Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdict ...
in Korea that Westerners enjoyed in Japan.
The chief treaty negotiators were
Kuroda Kiyotaka
Count was a Japanese politician and general who served as prime minister of Japan from 1888 to 1889. He was one of the '' genrō'', or senior statesman of the Meiji era. Born in the Satsuma Domain to a samurai family, Kuroda was involved in t ...
, Director of the
Hokkaidō Colonization Office, and
Shin Heon, General/Minister of Joseon-dynasty Korea.
The articles of the treaty were as follows:
*Article 1 stated that Korea was a free nation, "an independent state enjoying the same sovereign rights as does Japan".
*Article 2 stipulated that Japan and Korea would exchange envoys within fifteen months and permanently maintain diplomatic missions in each country. The Japanese would confer with the Ministry of Rites; the Korean envoy would be received by the Foreign Office.
*Under Article 3, Japan would use the
Japanese language
is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...
and
Hanmun
Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...
in diplomatic communiques, and Korea would use Hanmun.
*Article 4 terminated Tsushima's centuries-old role as a diplomatic intermediary by abolishing all agreements then existing between Korea and Tsushima.
*In addition to the open port of
Pusan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southe ...
, Article 5 authorized the search in
Kyongsang,
Kyonggi,
Chungcheong
Chungcheong Province (; ) was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Chungcheong was located in the southwest of Korea. The provincial capital was located at Gongju, which had been the capital of the kingdom of Baekje ...
,
Cholla, and
Hamgyong provinces for two more suitable seaports for Japanese trade to be opened in October 1877.
*Article 6 secured aid and support for ships stranded or wrecked along the Korea or Japanese coasts.
*Article 7 permitted any Japanese mariner to conduct surveys and mapping operations at will in the seas off the Korean Peninsula's coastline.
*Article 8 permitted Japanese merchants residence, unhindered trade, and the right to lease land and buildings for those purposes in the open ports.
*Article 9 guaranteed the freedom to conduct business without interference from either government and to trade without restrictions or prohibitions.
*Article 10 granted Japan the right of extraterritoriality, the one feature of previous Western treaties that was most widely resented in Asia. It gave foreigners a free rein to commit crimes with relative impunity, and it also implied the grantor nation's system of law was primitive, unjust, or both.
Aftermath

The following year (1877) saw a Japanese fleet led by Special Envoy
Kuroda Kiyotaka
Count was a Japanese politician and general who served as prime minister of Japan from 1888 to 1889. He was one of the '' genrō'', or senior statesman of the Meiji era. Born in the Satsuma Domain to a samurai family, Kuroda was involved in t ...
coming over to Joseon, demanding an apology from the Korean government and a commercial treaty between the two nations. The Korean government decided to accept the demand in the hope of importing some technologies to defend the country from any future invasions.
However, the treaty would eventually turn out to be the first of many unequal treaties signed by Korea. It gave extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens in Korea, and forced the Korean government to open three ports to Japan:
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
,
Incheon
Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...
and
Wonsan
Wonsan (), previously known as Wonsanjin (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwon Province (North Korea), Kangwon Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...
. With the signing of its first unequal treaty, Korea became vulnerable to the influence of imperialistic powers; and later the treaty led Korea to be
annexed by Japan.
See also
*
Capitulation (treaty)
A capitulation is a treaty or unilateral contract by which a sovereign state relinquishes jurisdiction within its borders over the subjects of a foreign state. As a result, the foreign subjects are immune, for most civil and criminal purposes, fr ...
*
French campaign against Korea (1866)
*
Ganghwa Island incident
The Ganghwa Island incident or the Japanese Battle of Ganghwa ( ''Unyo-ho sageon'' meaning "'' Un'yō'' incident"; ''Kōka-tō jiken'') was an armed clash between the Joseon dynasty of Korea and Japan which occurred in the vicinity of Ganghwa ...
(1875)
*
General Sherman incident
The ''General Sherman'' incident () was the destruction in 1866 of the American merchant ship in the Taedong River during an unsuccessful and illegal attempt by the ship's crew to open up trade with the isolationist Joseon dynasty of Korea. ...
(1866)
*
History of Korea
The Lower Paleolithic era on the Korean Peninsula and in Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago.
Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825.
The earl ...
*
Japan–Korea disputes
*
United States expedition to Korea
The United States expedition to Korea, known in Korea as the ''Shinmiyangyo'' () or simply the Korean Expedition, was an American military action in Korea that took place predominantly on and around Ganghwa Island in 1871.
Background
Freder ...
(1871)
References
Citations
Sources
* Chung, Young-lob (2005). ''Korea Under Siege, 1876–1945: Capital Formation and Economic Transformation''. New York: Oxford University Press. . .
*
*
*
*
*
* Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921–1922 (1922). ''Korea's Appeal to the Conference on Limitation of Armament''. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. .
*
*
* United States Dept. of State (1919). ''Catalogue of Treaties: 1814–1918''. Washington: Government Printing Office. .
Further reading
*McDougall, Walter (1993). ''Let the Sea Make a Noise: Four Hundred Years of Cataclysm, Conquest, War and Folly in the North Pacific''. New York: Avon Books.
OCLC 152400671
{{DEFAULTSORT:Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876
1876 in Japan
1876 in Korea
Japan–Korea relations
Unequal treaties
Ganghwa
Ganghwa
1876 treaties
February 1876
Bilateral treaties of Japan