Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 — 1910 formal annexation of the Korean Empire by the Empire of Japan
Japan's formal annexation of Korea in 1910 ended the Korean Empire and placed the peninsula under Japanese imperial rule for 35 years.
Key Facts
- Treaty signed
- 22 August 1910
- Preceding protectorate treaty
- Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905
- Internal affairs stripped
- Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907
- Duration of annexation
- 35 years (1910–1945)
- Declared null and void
- Treaty of Basic Relations, 1965
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War, the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 reduced Korea to a Japanese protectorate, stripping it of foreign policy control. The 1907 treaty further deprived Korea of the administration of internal affairs, systematically removing Korean sovereignty and setting the conditions for full annexation.
On 22 August 1910, representatives of the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire signed the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, formally transferring full sovereignty of Korea to Japan. The treaty concluded a process of incremental subjugation and dissolved the Korean Empire as an independent state.
Korea remained under Japanese imperial rule until 1945. Japanese commentators anticipated rapid assimilation of Koreans into the empire. In 1965, the Treaty of Basic Relations between South Korea and Japan declared the annexation treaty already null and void, though disputes over its legality and the circumstances of its signing have persisted.
Political Outcome
The Korean Empire was formally annexed by the Empire of Japan, ending Korean sovereignty and establishing Japanese colonial rule over the peninsula.
Korea as a Japanese protectorate with limited internal autonomy under the Korean Empire
Korea fully annexed and governed as a territory of the Empire of Japan