IMMIGRATION AND IMPERIALISM: A NEW LOOK AT THE JAPANESE TAKEOVER OF KOREA

Abstract

While Japan’s perceptions of a security threat was the paramount reason for its takeover of Korea, a second reason surfaced that linked Korean emigration to Hawaii with a threat to Japan’s prestige as a leading nation in the world. Needing to prevent enactment of a Japanese Exclusion Act by the United States, the Japanese Foreign Office undertook to bring that emigration to a halt. Skillfully using missteps by the Korean government, Japan was able both to hide their ulterior motives from the United States and make it easier to absorb Korea’s diplomatic functions abroad, resulting in the establishment of the Protectorate in 1905.While Japan’s perceptions of a security threat was the aramount reason for its takeover of Korea, a second reason surfaced that linked Korean emigration to Hawaii with a threat to Japan’s prestige as a leading nation in the world. Needing to prevent enactment of a Japanese Exclusion Act by the United States, the Japanese Foreign Office undertook to bring that emigration to a halt. Skillfully using missteps by the Korean government, Japan was able both to hide their ulterior motives from the United States and make it easier to absorb Korea’s diplomatic functions abroad, resulting in the establishment of the Protectorate in 1905.