1882 treaty between the United States and Korea that established their mutual relationship
Korea's first treaty with a Western nation, opening formal diplomatic and commercial relations between the United States and the Joseon dynasty.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- May 22, 1882
- Location
- Chemulpo (present-day Incheon), near Seoul
- Also known as
- Shufeldt Treaty
- Korea's treaty milestone
- First treaty with a Western nation
- Nullifying agreement
- Taft–Katsura agreement nullified intervention clause
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
As Korea's Joseon dynasty faced increasing pressure from regional powers in East Asia, the United States sought to establish formal diplomatic and commercial ties. Negotiations were conducted to open Korea to Western engagement and secure mutual protections for trade and navigation between the two nations.
The Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation was negotiated between the United States and Korea's Joseon dynasty, with the final draft accepted at Chemulpo in April and May 1882. The agreement, also called the Shufeldt Treaty, established formal relations, mutual protections, and commercial terms between the two countries.
The treaty marked Korea's formal entry into diplomatic relations with a Western power. However, after the United States assented to the Taft–Katsura agreement, the treaty's intervention clause was effectively nullified, undermining the mutual protection it had promised to Korea.
Political Outcome
Formal diplomatic, commercial, and navigational relations established between the United States and Joseon Korea; intervention clause later nullified by the Taft–Katsura agreement.
Korea had no formal treaty relations with any Western nation
Korea entered into its first Western diplomatic and commercial treaty with the United States