Politics17 November 1905

Eulsa Treaty

Also called: Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905, Eulsa Treaty

On 17 November 1905, with troops surrounding Gyeongungung, Itō Hirobumi forced a treaty stripping the Korean Empire of its diplomatic rights; a Japanese Residency-General was set up and soon meddled in domestic affairs too.

The Eulsa Treaty of 1905, Korean text
RYU Cheol · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

Japan sent Itō Hirobumi as special envoy, and he browbeat the ministers in the Jungmyeongjeon hall. Gojong and Prime Minister Han Gyu-seol refused to the end, but Itō declared the treaty concluded with the assent of five ministers — Lee Wan-yong (education), Yi Ji-yong (home affairs), Park Je-sun (foreign affairs), Yi Geun-taek (army) and Gwon Jung-hyeon (agriculture) — remembered as the Five Eulsa Traitors. Gojong never signed or ratified it, and the Korean government and most Korean scholars hold that, obtained by coercion, it is void under international law. Japan called it the Second Japan–Korea Agreement or the Eulsa Protectorate Treaty; Korean textbooks call it the Eulsa neugyak, the "treaty forced in the eulsa year".

Korea lost control of its foreign relations and became a Japanese protectorate. In February 1906 the Residency-General opened in Seoul with Itō as the first Resident-General, and the foreign legations left.

Jang Ji-yeon wrote "Today We Cry Out in Lament"; Min Yeong-hwan, Jo Byeong-se and others took their own lives; Na Cheol and O Gi-ho organized a band to kill the five ministers. Gojong sent Homer Hulbert to America, published a letter repudiating the treaty in the Daehan maeil sinbo and in 1907 sent envoys to The Hague. Righteous armies rose across the country.

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The map in 1905

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States and rulers at the time: Korean Empire — Gojong
Japan · led by — Emperor Meiji
Places: Jungmyeongjeon, Gyeongungung (Deoksugung)

People

Itō Hirobumi1841 – 1909
leader · First prime minister of Japan who forced the 1905 protectorate treaty and became the first Resident-General; shot by Ahn Jung-geun at Harbin
Hayashi Gonsuke1860 – 1939
diplomat · Japanese minister in Seoul who signed the 1904 protocol and agreements and the 1905 treaty
Park Je-sun1858 – 1916
related figure · Foreign minister who signed the 1905 treaty, one of the Five Eulsa Traitors
Lee Wan-yong1858 – 1926
related figure · One of the Five Eulsa Traitors; as prime minister he signed the 1907 treaty, the 1909 memorandum and the annexation treaty
Gojong1852 – 1919
monarch · Twenty-sixth king of Joseon and first emperor of the Korean Empire
Homer B. Hulbert1863 – 1949
diplomat · American teacher at Yugyeong Gongwon who wrote the Hangeul geography "Samin pilji" and, as Gojong’s secret envoy, protested the Eulsa Treaty and aided the Hague emissaries
Na Cheol1863 – 1916
related figure · Plotted with O Gi-ho to kill the five ministers who signed the Eulsa Treaty, and in 1909 founded Daejonggyo, a religion honouring Dangun

2 parts of this event

1
1905"Today We Cry Out in Lament"
Jang Ji-yeon published the editorial "Siil-ya bangseong daegok" in the Hwangseong sinmun, denouncing Japan and the ministers who had approved the treaty.
2
1905Suicide of Min Yeong-hwan
Having failed to get the treaty annulled, the senior court official Min Yeong-hwan took his own life, leaving farewell letters to the people and to the foreign ministers.

Before and after

Earlier: 1905 Currency Reorganization Project
Later: 1907 National Debt Repayment Movement

Themes that include this event

Seoul18 BC – 1988
From Hanseong Baekje to the June Democratic Struggle — the Han River land every kingdom fought for, and Joseon’s capital for five centuries