At least that’s what the headline would have read in 1910. Yes, I’m back into the History mode again today.

If you thought Koreans were upset with Japan because of WWII (what with the forced labor, sex slavery and compulsory military service as human shields for the Japanese Army and all), you’re not getting the whole picture.

The Treaty of Kanghwa (1876) gave Japan trade and extraterritorial rights, bringing Korea under Japanese influence. Korea didn’t sign the document willingly; they were forced to agree to the terms. In 1895, when Korean Empress Meongseong (aka Queen Min) tried to stand against Japan’s interference in Korean affairs, she was assassinated. With that, and Japan’s victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan consolidated and strengthened its control over the Korean peninsula.

Korea then tried to enlist Russia to free them from the Japanese. But when the Japanese soundly defeated Russia in the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, the Koreans were alone. In fact, in the peace treaty the Russians signed, they acknowledged Japan’s “paramount political, military and economic interest” in Korea. This set-up Korea to become a Japanese protectorate.

Things kept going from bad to worse until finally, on August 22, 1910, Japan annexed Korea via the Japan-Korean Annexation Treaty. All of the Korean peninsula was ceded to the Emperor of Japan.

World War Two’s end saw the end of Japanese rule over Korea but it wasn’t until 1965, with the signing of the Basic Treaty between Korean and Japan that things changed politically. The 1965 treaty voided both the 1905 protectorate agreement and the 1910 annexation treaty.

All that being said, what does this mean? Have you noticed how nervous Japan gets every time North Korea (The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK) announces a rocket launch? I still have some reading to do, but I don’t think the DPRK (under Kim Il Song) signed the 1965 treaty. Just like we are still technically at war with the DPRK (we signed a cease-fire agreement, not a cessation of hostilities treaty), the DPRK may still be looking to throw off the yoke of Japanese subjugation through a violent display of military action rather than passive acceptance through the stroke of a pen.

Your thoughts?