The Treaty of Ganghwa, also called Korea-Japanese Treaty of Amity, signed in 1876, was written by Kuroda Kiyotaka, Governor of Hokkaidō, and designed to open up Korea to Japanese trade. It ended Korea's status as a tributary state of China, at least in the eyes of Korea and Japan, if not China, and opened three ports to Japanese trade. The Treaty also granted Japanese many of the same rights in Korea that Westerners enjoyed in Japan, such as extraterritoriality (Japanese in Korea would be subject to Japanese, not Korean, law). Jamo redirects here. ... It has been suggested that Sino-Korean be merged into this article or section. ... The Revised Romanization of Korean (Korean: 국어의 로마자 표기법; 國語의 로마字 表記法) is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea. ... McCune-Reischauer romanization is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems, along with the Revised Romanization of Korean, which replaced (a modified) McCune-Reischauer as the official romanization system in South Korea in 2000. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Kuroda Kiyotaka (黒田 清隆; October 16, 1840–August 25, 1900), also known as Ryōsuke, was a Japanese politician of the Meiji era, and the second Prime Minister of Japan from April 30, 1888 to October 25, 1889. ... Hokkaidō   (北海道, literal meaning: North Sea Route, Ainu: Mosir), formerly known as Ezo and Yesso, is the second largest island and largest prefecture of Japan. ... Korea (Korean: 한국 or ì¡°ì„ , see below) is a geographic area, civilization, and former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. ... A tributary state is an independent state that has to acknowledge the supremacy of another state and pay tribute to its ruler. ... Extraterritoriality is the state of being exempt from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. ...

After the Industrial Revolution in 18th century, European nations, along with the U.S., began to colonize many other weaker nations in Africa and Asia, the political ideology called Imperialism. Almost all of Africa was colonized by European Powers; most of Central, South and Southeast Asia including India was taken over by various European nations and America. East Asia also was invaded by foreign powers, beginning with the Opium Wars in China by Britain and other foreign powers; China's vast, magnificent empire was reduced to a half-colonized territory. Meanwhile, the American fleet under the leadership of Matthew C. Perry forced Japan to open its ports to the western world in 1854. A Watt steam engine in Madrid. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... A world map showing the continent of Africa. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Cecil Rhodes: Cape-Cairo railway project. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ... The Opium Wars (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), or the Anglo-Chinese Wars were two wars fought in the mid-1800s that were the climax of a long dispute between China and Britain. ... Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 - March 4, 1858) was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy who forced the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, under the threat of military force. ...

Humiliated by unequal treaties with imperialistic powers, both China and Japan, which were at this time still medieval cultures, tried to develop technologically into industrialized nations. Japan succeeded first -- by putting an end to the Tokugawa regime and becoming imperialist itself under the leadership of Emperor Meiji, while China still struggled to industrialize itself. The following text needs to be harmonized with text in the article History of Japan#Edo Period. ... Emperor Meiji , literally Emperor of Enlightened Rule) (3 November 1852–30 July 1912), was the 122nd imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. ...

In Korea, the strong dictatorship of Daewongun was overthrown by Empress Myeongseong, who instituted a policy of closing doors to European powers. France and United States had already made several unsuccessful attempts to begin commerce with the Joseon Dynasty, all of them happening during Daewon-gun's era. However, after he was removed from power, many new officials who supported the idea of opening commerce with foreigners took power. While there was political instability in Korea, Japan developed a plan to colonize Korea as a previous step before annexing China. In 1875, their plan was put into action: the Unyo, a small Japanese warship under the command of Inoue Yoshika, was dispatched to survey coastal waters without Korean permission. The Daewon-gun, or properly Heungseon Daewon-gun, (1820–1898) was the regent of Joseon during much of the later 19th century. ... This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... The Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) (also Chosun), sometimes known as the Yi Dynasty, was a dynasty founded by General Yi Seonggye in what is modern day Korea, and lasted for five centuries as one of the worlds longest running monarchies. ... The Daewon-gun, or properly Heungseon Daewon-gun, (1820–1898) was the regent of Joseon during much of the later 19th century. ... Yoshika Inoue ) (3 November 1845 – 22 March 1929) was a career naval officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy during Meiji-period. ...

On September 20 the ship reached Ganghwa Island, which had been a site of violent confrontations between Korean forces and foreign intruders in the previous decade. In 1866, the island was briefly occupied by the French, and in 1871 it was subjected to US attack. 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 launched – allegedly in search of drinkable water. The Korean forts opened fire. The Unyo brought its superior firepower to bear and silenced the Korean guns. Then it attacked another Korean port and withdrew back to Japan. The following year saw a Japanese fleet coming over to Korea, demanding an apology from Joseon government and an intercommerce treaty between the two nations. The Korean government decided to accept the demand, in hope of importing some technologies to defend the country from the imperial invasions of European powers. Ganghwa Island is an island in the estuary of the Han River, on the west coast of South Korea. ...

However, the treaty came out to be the first unequal treaty signed by Korea; it gave extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens in Korea, made Korea independent from tribute to China so Japan could take Korea without intervention from the Qing Dynasty, forced Korean government to open 3 ports to Japan, specifically Busan, Incheon and Wonsan. With the signing of its first unequal treaty, Korea became another easy hunt for many imperialistic powers; and later the treaty led Korea to be annexed by Japan, who defeated Russia as rival nation in annexing Korea in Russo-Japanese War. ... The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: Qīng cháo; Wade-Giles: Ching chao; Manchu: daicing gurun), occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, was a dynasty founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China, expanded into China and the surrounding territories, establishing the Empire... Busan Metropolitan City, also known as Pusan, is the largest port city in South Korea. ... Incheon Metropolitan City is a metropolitan city and major seaport on the west coast of South Korea, near Seoul. ... Wonsan is a port city and naval base in southeastern North Korea. ... Combatants Imperial Russia Empire of Japan Commanders N/A N/A Strength 500,000 Soldiers 400,000 Soldiers Casualties 134,817+ KIA/POW, 170,000 MIA etc. ...

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• History of Korea
• Joseon Dynasty
• Imperialism
• Ganghwa Island affair

This is a list of Wikipedia articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. ... This article is about the history of Korea, through the division of Korea in 1945. ... The Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) (also Chosun), sometimes known as the Yi Dynasty, was a dynasty founded by General Yi Seonggye in what is modern day Korea, and lasted for five centuries as one of the worlds longest running monarchies. ... Cecil Rhodes: Cape-Cairo railway project. ... The Ganghwa Island affair is an armed conflict between Joseon Dynasty(Yi Dynasty, Korea) and Japan occurred in the vicinity of on Ganghwa Island September, 20 1875. ...

References

• 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.