The Korean dynasty was a vassal state of the Qing Empire before the Sino-Japanese War in the 20th year of Guangxu (1894). During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Japan took control of the Korean regime and forced it to abolish the suzerain-vassal relationship with China. In April, 544 (1895, the 21st year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty and the 28th year of Meiji in Japan), the defeated Qing government was forced to give up its suzerainty over Korea and recognized its independence in the treaty of shimonoseki signed with Japan.

But in fact, North Korea was ruled by the pro-Japanese Jin Hongji cabinet at that time, so Japan constantly intervened in the political situation in North Korea. In the fifty-fourth year of People's Republic of China (PRC)'s founding (1895),1kloc-0/October 8, the Japanese killed the pro-Russian North Korean Empress Min (Empress Mingcheng) in the "B Wei Incident" and ordered Jin Hongji's cabinet to carry out a series of "reforms", such as implementing the solar calendar and issuing a decree of severance. These have seriously hurt the national feelings of the Korean people. People shouted that "the head can be broken, but the hair can't be cut", and the first volunteer movement (volunteer soldiers) quickly spread throughout the country. The Russian Empire was deeply afraid that Japan would interfere in North Korea's internal affairs and restrict its expansion in the Far East, so it sent warships to dock at Incheon Port in North Korea to "support" North Korea's anti-Japanese war. In February of the first year of Jianyang (1896), under the persuasion of pro-Russian ministers, Li and others at that time, the Korean emperor led the royal family to take refuge in the Russian legation, which was called "moving to the Russian Pavilion" in history. The relocation of the Russian Pavilion has changed the political balance of North Korea and expanded the pro-Russian faction. Subsequently, the pro-Japanese Jin Hongji cabinet collapsed rapidly, and Japan's expansion in North Korea was curbed. The relocation of the Russian Pavilion balanced the forces of Japan and Russia on the Korean Peninsula, and this external situation created conditions for the later establishment of the Korean Empire. On the other hand, in modern times, the discussion of South Korean kings calling themselves "emperors" came into being. The king of South Korea proclaimed himself emperor twice. The first round was planned by the pro-Japanese civilized faction. As early as 1884, during the "coup d' é tat in Shen Jia", the Equality and Civilization Party proposed the motion of "the king proclaimed himself emperor". In the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), the Sino-Japanese War broke out, and after Japan took control of Korea, North Korea implemented the policy of "intensifying the Sino-Japanese War", and the idea of claiming the emperor surfaced again. It is said that Keisuke, the Japanese ambassador to North Korea at that time, proposed to call King Gaozong Emperor, but it was not adopted by North Korea and only promoted the king to the title of "Your Majesty". Other titles have also been promoted, such as "I" and "imperial edict", but they have not been proclaimed emperor. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the signing of treaty of shimonoseki, pro-Japanese factions in North Korea began to plan to claim the title of king and emperor, especially after the "B Wei Incident" in which Min Fei was killed. Seven days after Min Fei's murder, that is, the 54th year of the founding of the People's Republic of China (1895), 10, 15), the North Korean cabinet held a meeting to discuss the issue of proclaimed emperor. According to Jin Yunzhi, Minister of Foreign Affairs at that time, "Today, the cabinet decided that China should be independent between the two great empires in the East, but it was too late to honour the title, which hindered the current situation and played the role of emperor and Jian Yuan. Give me a few times and you will do it. " In addition, Yin Zhihao, the external co-organizer, recorded the matter in more detail. At that time, Yu Fanshan, Zhao Xiyuan, Quanying Town and other important military and political officials argued for claiming the emperor. They pointed out that it is absolutely necessary to claim that the Emperor is independent from China, while Yin Zhihao objected that it is impossible for Japan and China to increase their respect for North Korea by claiming the Emperor, so claiming the Emperor would cause legitimate ridicule. Although Foreign Minister Jin Yunzhi and Prime Minister Jin Hongji agreed with Yin Zhihao's idea, they listened to the opinions of military officials and finally decided to become emperors. At the same time, a letter was issued to choose a new queen. It is planned to hold the enthronement ceremony on 10/0/26, with the title of "Great Korea Empire". However, North Korea's plan to proclaim itself emperor was aborted because of the resolute opposition of the ministers of Russia, the United States and Britain. The storm of claiming the emperor is not so much the independence of North Korea as a step taken by Japan and pro-Japanese factions to cover up the "B Wei incident" (Yu Fanshan and Zhao Xiyuan, who advocated claiming the emperor, were participants in the B Wei incident). The key to this storm is not to be proclaimed emperor, but to be accompanied by the "Queen Election Order". The Japanese want to show Japan's goodwill by supporting the king as emperor, and then take this opportunity to set up a new queen to cover up Min Fei's death. After that, the "Russian Pavilion was moved", the pro-Japanese regime collapsed, and it was even more impossible to claim the title of emperor. The second round of the second round of North Korea's plan to proclaim itself emperor was unanimously promoted by King Gaozong and almost all factions, and it was an unprecedented independent movement to build the country. After the relocation of the Russian Pavilion in the first year of Jianyang (1896), the political situation was basically stable, but the Korean emperor Gaozong remained in the Russian legation, thus inspiring the independent consciousness of ordinary people. In April of the first year of Jianyang (1896), Xu Zaibi, a well-known civilized person who participated in the coup in Shen Jia and returned from studying in the United States, founded the first folk newspaper in the history of the Korean Peninsula-Independent News, which strongly called for North Korea's independence, carried out modernization reform, and vigorously publicized the spirit of independence and the western thought of civil rights and the rule of law, which had a great influence at all levels in North Korea at that time. For example, one of the editorials wrote: "North Koreans never know what independence is and are indifferent to foreigners' contempt for North Koreans. The monarch of North Korea once sent envoys to worship in the Qing Dynasty every year, using the calendar of the Qing Dynasty and the year number of the Qing Dynasty in official documents. Although Koreans know that they belong to the Qing Dynasty, they have never considered revenge for this humiliation for hundreds of years, but have always been content with their national status. If we consider this cowardly mentality, isn't it a great sorrow in life? To improve the status of the common people, we must first improve the status of the country. For example, to improve the status of the country and the common people, the monarch of the country must stand side by side with the monarchs of other countries. " Clearly put forward the requirement of "side by side with other monarchs". In July of the same year, Xu Zaibi founded an independent association. In order to show the determination to break away from history and pursue independence, the Independence Association also dismantled the "Enying Gate" where North China greeted its envoys and converted it into an independent gate. In addition, the "Hua Mu Pavilion" catering to China's "angels" was renamed "Independent Pavilion" and used as the office of independent associations.

In February of the second year of Jianyang (1897), Emperor Gaozong moved out of the Russian legation and returned to Qingyun Palace (now Deshou Palace) in Seoul. Since then, not only the independent news of the folk civilization school and the independent association called on the emperor to establish the country, but also Confucian scholars and ministers representing the traditional forces have loosened up and quoted classics to ask the emperor to be emperor. In the second year of Jianyang (1897) in May 1, the former undertaker Rong invited him to be emperor. On May 9th, local Confucian scholars, headed by Quan Daxie, began to demand that the country be proclaimed emperor. On May 16, the official appointment of the Central Academy was still allowed to be an official. On May 26th, the young scholar Jiang (an unknown Confucian scholar) and the county magistrate also rejected the remarks against claiming the emperor. On September 25th and 26th, the first year of Guangwu (1897), Yu Jihuan, the co-organizer of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, as a senior official, urged Gao Zong to proclaim himself emperor. On September 29th, Feng Chaohe (honorary official name) asked for the title of emperor in Xianlian 7 16 gentry. On September 30th, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shen Shunze and Special Official Zhao advised them to move forward on behalf of all court officials. In these numerous reports, various reasons for claiming to be the emperor are stated, such as the fact that claiming to be the emperor can consolidate the national situation and ensure independence. "After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, there was independence in the name but not in reality, the country was uncertain, and the people were full of doubts ... But now the party that corrects it cares about dignity and respect, which makes the people tend to"; There are also many people who mention the orthodoxy of North Korea. For example, Jiang's Shangshu pointed out: "Although the territory of our state is small, there are more than 5,000 years of orthodox cultural relics handed down from Xihe to Huang." Li Xiubing pointed out that "Your Majesty's great cause should be unified by Daming", and external co-organizer Yu Jihuan even quoted European history, saying that the Qing Dynasty and North Korea jointly inherited China's orthodoxy. There are also a large number of references to the public law of nations to demonstrate the feasibility of declaring the country emperor. For example, when referring to the balance of power, he quoted the contents of chapters 84-86 of the Law of Nations translated by Ding Weiliang and its notes, urging the emperor to ignore the comments of outsiders and immediately announce the monarch; In addition, the inscription reads: "Our country reunites three Koreas, with a land area of 4,000 miles and a population of not less than 20 million", which is the scale of claiming the title of emperor. "Independent News" once commented on this: "For hundreds of years, North Koreans only regarded the Qing Emperor as the only emperor who was respected. But at this time, North Korea's loyalists began to think that North Korea's great monarch was really equal to the Qing emperor, which was indeed a symbol of North Korea's independence. " At this time, although some corrupt scholars, such as Liu Linxi and Cui, opposed claiming the emperor on the grounds that North Korea was a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, the wheel of history could not turn, and it was imperative for the Emperor Gaozong to claim the emperor.

As a matter of fact, the movement for claiming the title of emperor was to a great extent inspired by Li Xi himself. North Korea's plan to claim the title of emperor for the second time met with cold eyes from countries including Japan and Russia, and Fukuzawa Yukichi of Japan even wrote a quip: "According to the latest news, the discussion on honorific title that was originally rumored has been settled, and korean king will call it the emperor in the future. This is amazing. It doesn't matter whether you are made king or emperor. But when it comes to the state of the "empire" ruled by his emperor, from the outside, "empire" is simply indecent. Until recently, the king lived in the legation of other countries, and even the king's own residence was difficult to settle down, and he suddenly became an emperor. What kind of majesty can he play at home and abroad? " Therefore, Emperor Gaozong needs to create an atmosphere of "national consensus" in order to gain the recognition of the great powers and realize his plan of becoming emperor. According to historical records, Emperor Gaozong's plan to proclaim himself emperor was that "all countries want to stop it, but the Russian envoy said,' Your country will try to usurp the throne, and I will break up with Russia!'" "I was scared at first, but it didn't look good. That's the imperial edict. I want it one by one, and I'm biased towards others when I get on it ... "The Japanese ambassador to North Korea, Masuo Kato, also reported to the Japanese government:" The king hopes to form a situation in which the officials and people of the whole country look up to him and the national public opinion unanimously supports him, which has attracted the attention of the diplomatic envoys of various countries in the DPRK and won the consent of the diplomatic envoys of various countries on the grounds that the emperor cannot be suspended. First, on the eve of the accession to the throne, the North Korean government sent court officials to the embassies to secretly inquire about their intentions and lobby for their mediation, but the envoys either stopped or were indifferent, and no one made a serious statement. " Therefore, the second round of North Korea's plan to claim the emperor not only has strong demands from various factions in the ruling and opposition parties, but Gao Zong himself is the biggest promoter behind the scenes. Main entry: Guangwu reform

The Korean Empire was independently established by Emperor Gaozong Li Xi, when Japanese and Russian forces were in a state of mutual restraint on the Korean Peninsula. In this situation, the external pressure on South Korea temporarily put it in a post-crisis easing period. The Korean imperial government headed by Emperor Gaozong was also aware of this situation, so it adopted the strategy of balance of power abroad to maintain national independence through mutual containment among powers, with the goal of permanent neutrality; Internally, we continued the modernization reform since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and began to transform South Korea, so as to achieve the effect of making Qiang Bing rich. Since the year after Emperor Gaozong proclaimed himself Emperor Guangwu, the political, military, economic, social and other reforms that Emperor Gaozong implemented in the years after the establishment of the Korean Empire were called "Emperor Guangwu Reform".

The reform of Guangwu changed the social outlook of South Korea, promoted its modernization and industrialization, greatly developed its national capitalism, enlightened the Korean nation and further awakened its national consciousness. However, the basic idea of Guangwu reform is "taking the old system as the basis and giving consideration to the new system", so the reform measures are not thorough, and many of them are just superficial. South Korea is still an absolute monarchy, and foreign forces have not really expelled it. The politics of the Korean Empire still continues the darkness and decay of the Korean dynasty, and coupled with years of famine, the lives of ordinary people are even more difficult. South Korea has not become rich and strong because of the reform of Guangwu. With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, the reform process of Guangwu was interrupted, and South Korea inevitably went to the road of colonization.

Due to the limitations of Guangwu reform, the contradiction between the independent association and the deep-seated government that has been independent and reformed has gradually intensified. American-educated activists in independent associations such as Li Chengwan even advocated civil rights and caused conflicts between officials and people in Seoul many times. In the second year of Yu Guangwu (1898), the independence association was banned by the Korean government in June 5438+02, Li Chengwan and others were arrested and sentenced, and its founder Xu Zaibi was forced to leave South Korea for the United States. Although the establishment of the Korean Empire eased the imperialist aggression on the Korean Peninsula to a certain extent, it did not fundamentally change the situation that South Korea was ruled by foreign countries, and the Korean Empire did not gain real independence from beginning to end. Before and after the establishment of the Korean Empire, Japan and Russia successively signed the Agreement on Defending the North of Takamura, the Agreement on Ro-Banov in the Mountain and the Agreement on Ro-Mountain in Nishi to coordinate their spheres of influence and various interests in South Korea. However, both sides clearly oppose the direct division of forces in South Korea by the 38th parallel of north latitude, because both Japan and Russia want to monopolize the Korean peninsula. During this period, the aggression of Japan and Russia on the Korean Peninsula changed from direct interference in its internal affairs to economic aggression. Russia acquired the rich forestry resources in the northern part of the Korean peninsula through the "moving to Russia Pavilion", while Japan took all the fishing rights of South Korea as its own, and laid the Beijing-Fuzhou Railway in the seventh year of Guangwu (1903). Korean national capitalist enterprises at a disadvantage are also struggling in the vicious competition with Japan and Russia.

In the seventh year of Guangwu (1903), the contradiction between Japan and Russia gradually intensified. Japan advocated "Manchuria-Korea exchange", and Japan and Russia occupied South Korea and northeast China respectively. Russia, on the other hand, advocates monopolizing the northeast of China, taking the Korean Peninsula north of 39 degrees north latitude as its sphere of influence and Japan south of 39 degrees north latitude as its sphere of influence, but Japan cannot be used for military purposes. Russia used its innate advantages in northeast China and the Korean Peninsula to suppress Japan, and Japan relied on anglo-japanese alliance instead of giving in. This year, in particular, Russia refused to implement the second phase of the Sino-Russian Treaty on Solving the Problems in the Three Northeast Provinces of China and seized Longyanpu in South Korea, which aggravated the deterioration of Japan-Russia relations and made war between the two countries inevitable. In this situation, the Korean imperial government headed by Emperor Gaozong began to accelerate the process of neutralization. As early as the fourth year of Guangwu (1900), Emperor Gaozong adopted the pro-American thought and tried to rely on the United States and the great powers to "jointly guarantee" the neutrality of South Korea in order to break the plot of dividing up South Korea between Japan and Russia. However, both Japan and Russia are opposed to South Korea's neutrality, and the United States refuses to intervene in the Japan-Russia dispute and refuses to guarantee. Therefore, the emperor's first neutral plan fell through. After five years of Guangwu (190 1 year), the second plan of North Korea's neutrality began to brew, which was first put forward by Russia. When Emperor Gaozong heard about it, he sent Li Genze, Park Ji-chun and other ministers to visit Japan and asked about Japan's policy toward North Korea. As a result, he learned that Japan was unwilling to neutral South Korea. In fact, at this time, Japan has introduced the "small village route" to "protect the country" and it is impossible to support South Korea's neutrality. After that, South Korea's domestic political circles were mired in the "promotion of Yan Fei" (Yan Fei is a pure imperial concubine) and could not carry out any active foreign policy. South Korea's neutrality planned by diplomats from Russia, the United States and other countries also failed under the obstruction of Japan. In the seventh year of Guangwu (1903), when the war was overcast, Emperor Gaozong began to explore the third neutralization scheme. Originally, the Korean Empire pursued permanent neutrality, but now it is the second best and begins to seek wartime neutrality. In the seventh year of Guangwu (1903), 18, South Korean Foreign Minister Lee Dao-jae ordered ambassadors to Russia and Japan. The main point is: when the Russo-Japanese War breaks out, we should get the protection of governments as soon as possible to safeguard the neutrality and territorial integrity of North Korea. On August 2 1 of the same year, Emperor Gaozong sent Xuan Shangjian, an imperial court official proficient in French, to France to seek the assistance of the French government and the International Court of Justice in The Hague to neutralize South Korea. However, after learning of South Korea's neutral plot, Japan categorically opposed and destroyed it on the grounds of "untimely". With the approaching of the war, Li Jianchun, the emissary of Emperor Gaozong, with the assistance of Feng Daolai, the French ambassador to North Korea, made a declaration of neutrality in French in Zhifu, China (now Yantai, Shandong Province) in the eighth year of Guangwu (1904) 1 in the name of Foreign Minister Li Zhirong. This is the first time in the history of South Korea to declare neutrality, which is known as the "magistrate" in history. So far, it is difficult to solve the situation peacefully. My government has been instructed by the great emperor, and it is absolutely determined to abide by the issues of strictness and neutrality, regardless of the outcome of the agreement between the two countries. At this moment, the great emperor hopes to get help from the friendship of all countries. "Later, the declaration was sent by telegram to the ambassadors of various countries in North Korea. Japan was shocked by this and avoided recognizing it on the grounds that neutrality was outdated. Russia, which was keen to help South Korea achieve neutrality, unexpectedly stayed out of it, and Britain refused to recognize it on the grounds that the declaration of neutrality was not important now. Other countries have no official supporters. In this way, Emperor Gaozong's neutral foreign policy went bankrupt completely, and South Korea became Japan's bag in the Russo-Japanese War.

In the eighth year of Guangwu (1904), on February 9, Japan attacked the Russian fleet in Incheon, South Korea, and the Russo-Japanese War broke out. After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese army completely ignored South Korea's declaration of neutrality, quickly entered Seoul, took control of the South Korean government, and forced South Korea to sign the "Japan-South Korea Protocol" with Japan on February 23 to help Japan fight. On August 22 of the same year, Japanese Minister Quanzhu Lin forced South Korea to sign a new Japan-South Korea agreement (the first Japan-South Korea agreement), stipulating that South Korea should hire Japanese financial and diplomatic advisers, consult with Japan before concluding treaties with foreign countries, and so on. South Korea began to enter the advisory political period controlled by Japan. The Russo-Japanese War ended in Japan's victory. In September of the ninth year of Guangwu (1905), Japan and Russia signed the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, and since then Japan has monopolized the Korean Peninsula. So the Japanese government forced South Korea to conclude a protection treaty with it. At the command meeting of the North Korean court, ministers resolutely opposed the signing of the treaty, and pro-Japanese factions dared not openly agree to sign the treaty. 1 17 On June 65438+ 10/7, Japan sent tens of thousands of troops into Seoul and surrounded Qingyun Palace. Japanese envoy Ito Bowen and commander of the US military in South Korea Hasegawa Yoshimichi personally entered the palace. Due to the absence of Emperor Gaozong due to illness, eight ministers of the South Korean government met with Ito Bowen. Ito Bowen coerced eight ministers, and the original pro-Japanese five ministers (Li Wanyong has changed from pro-Russian to pro-Japanese) headed by Li Wanyong, the minister of the Ministry of Education, agreed to sign the contract, while the other three opposed it. Among them, Han Guichan, the political minister (prime minister), was forcibly dragged out of the court by the Japanese army because of his firm opposition to signing the contract. The Japanese army also seized the big seal from outside South Korea and forced South Korean Foreign Minister Park Ji-chun to sign the Japan-South Korea Protection Agreement (the second Japan-South Korea Agreement, also known as the Second Japan-South Korea Protection Treaty). Since then, the Korean Empire has existed in name only.

According to this agreement, South Korea revoked its diplomatic authority and did not set up the post of foreign minister. In this way, South Korea lost its sovereignty over foreign affairs and internal affairs, became a protectorate of Japan, and actually became a colony of Japan. After the news of the signing of the Japan-Korea protection agreement came out, it immediately aroused strong opposition from the Korean people. People from all walks of life in South Korea unanimously demanded "the abolition of the protection agreement" and "the expulsion of the enemy and the elimination of the five thieves". "Imperial Capital News" immediately announced the truth of signing the contract to the world. He called the date of publication of the protection agreement "national mourning day" in South Korea. The editorial entitled "This is also a day of crying loudly" written by Zhang Zhiyuan, the main author, reflects the hatred of the Korean people for the protection agreement. At that time, the situation in Korean society was that "students closed their schools and wept bitterly, Christians wept bitterly, businessmen withdrew from the market and cried wildly, Confucian scholars voted for customs, senior ministers resisted, and the Japanese either robbed them with soldiers or detained them for humiliation. Yong Huan, the servant, drew his sword and killed himself, while Zhao, the former minister of parliament, killed himself by drinking medicine. Farmer Jin Taigen stopped in Shui Yuan to throw stones at Ito Bowen, but missed. Eleven people, including Qi, Jin Xiheng, conspired to assassinate the five thieves and were arrested. Li Jianxuan vomited blood and died in prison. "

Since then, a massive resistance movement and the second anti-Japanese militia movement have been formed in various parts of South Korea, among which Min Zongzhi of Chungcheongnam-do, Jeolla Daocui and Gyeongsangnam-do are the most active, which have dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army and puppet governments everywhere. At this time, Li Wanyong, the minister in charge of Korean national affairs, Li Genze, the minister of military affairs, Li Zhirong, the minister of interior, and Park Ji-chun, the minister of agriculture, industry and commerce, were severely criticized by the Korean people as "the fifth thief". On the day of signing the contract, the traitor Li Wanyong's house was set on fire. After the signing of the Yasukuni Treaty, Japan's control over South Korea changed from consultant rule to emperor rule of Japan-South Korea unified supervision office, that is, the period of unified political supervision (political protection). 165438+1October 23, the Japanese government announced the full text of the agreement, and informed the governments of various countries that have diplomatic relations with South Korea to request them to withdraw their diplomatic representative offices in South Korea. Before the evacuation of diplomatic missions from various countries, Japan closed its embassy in Seoul, set up a new organ governing South Korea-the Korea Unified Supervision Office, appointed the Speaker of the Privy Council, Ito Bowen, as the first unified supervision office, and cancelled Japanese consulates in various places, thus establishing the local organ of the unified supervision office-the parliament hall. On March 2nd, the 10th year of Guangwu (1906), Hirofumi Ito came to Seoul and became the governor of South Korea. He helped Park Ji-chun and Li Wanyong set up puppet cabinets successively, and in the name of assisting South Korea's reform, he threw out the guise of "improving governance" and forced South Korea to borrow100000 yen from Japan, which triggered the "national debt repayment movement" of the Korean people. Emperor Gaozong did not want to be a puppet. Shortly after the signing of the Jing Guo Treaty, Emperor Gaozong secretly wrote to the heads of the United States, Russia, Germany and France to declare the Jing Guo Treaty invalid, but the heads of the four countries ignored it.

In the 11th year of Guangwu (1907), the "Hague emissary incident" happened. The Second World Peace Conference was held in The Hague. Emperor Gaozong secretly sent Li Xiangchan, Li Di and Li Weizhong to The Hague with a personal letter from Emperor Gaozong to the Russian czar and a power of attorney to attend the meeting, accusing Japan of invading South Korea, calling on all countries to support South Korea and declaring the Yasukuni Treaty invalid. As all participating countries recognized Japan's right to protect South Korea, they confirmed their representative status to Emperor Gaozong. At this time, South Korea's telecommunications rights fell into the hands of Japan, and the inquiry telegram was detained by Japan. When Ito Bowen heard this, he was furious. Both the notice and the letter of appointment were forged. Japan accused South Korea of violating the protection treaty and attempting to depose Emperor Gaozong. Ito threatened Emperor Gaozong and said, "If he tramples on Japan's right to protection by such insidious means, your majesty might as well declare war on Japan." "Your Majesty's resistance to Japan does not have to be done in secret, but in public." Ito also instructed the South Korean traitorous organization "Jin Huijin" to carry out activities demanding the abdication of Emperor Gaozong. Under the instigation and intimidation of Ito, the Cabinet of Li Wanyong held three command meetings from July 6, 1907 to June 8, 1907. At the meeting, Song Bingzhen, Minister of Agriculture and Industry and President of the First Progressive Party, threatened Gao Zong, saying, "For your majesty's sake, there are only two choices: first, your majesty will go to Japan to apologize to him (Emperor Meiji), and second, your majesty will greet Commander Hasegawa and apologize to him, otherwise it is hard to imagine what humiliation you will suffer after defeat." /kloc-in July of 0/7, seven ministers, including Li Wanyong, forced Gao Zong to abdicate. The emperor can't stand it. He said angrily, "Young people are going to sell me to the governor!" On the same day, Japanese Foreign Minister Lin Dong arrived in Seoul, together with Prime Minister Li Wanyong, forced Emperor Gaozong to abdicate, and the two sides were deadlocked. Emperor Gaozong announced that "the military power was represented by the Crown Prince", but the Japanese lied that the North Korean emperor had abdicated.

In the 11th year of Guangwu (1907), 19 July, the Japanese army set up six cannons in front of Qingyun Palace in Wuchengtai, Nanshan, Seoul, and sent Japanese troops to surround Qingyun Palace. Under the close watch of Japanese soldiers, a "meditation ceremony" was held in the Zhonghe Hall of Qingyun Palace on July 20th. Crown Prince Li Ming ascended the throne for Chunzong and Yuan Longxi.

Four days after Junzong ascended the throne, Japanese Foreign Minister Lin Dong and South Korean Governor Ito Bowen called South Korean Prime Minister Li Wanyong to the South Korean Governor's Office in Seoul and handed him seven draft agreements prepared in advance. Li Wanyong immediately convened a cabinet meeting and quietly passed the agreement. That night, Li Wanyong signed the document called the Seven-Clause Treaty (the Third Japan-South Korea Agreement) at Ito's residence. The contents of the agreement are as follows: first, the Korean government must accept the guidance of unified supervision in improving governance; Second, the Korean government must obtain the consent of the competent authorities in advance to formulate and adopt important administrative measures; Third, Korean judicial affairs must be different from ordinary administrative affairs; Fourth, the appointment and removal of senior Korean officials must be approved by the supervisor; Fifth, the South Korean government should appoint Japanese recommended by the General Administration of Supervision as South Korean officials.

In the first year of Longxi (1907), on July 27th, Japan forced the puppet government of South Korea to promulgate the Press Law, and on July 29th, it promulgated the Security Law, depriving the Korean people of all freedom of speech, publication, assembly and association. 1 in August, Japan forcibly disbanded the south Korean army. This action aroused the climax of the second anti-Japanese militia movement, and Japan hastily assembled its troops before suppressing the militia movement two years later. At the same time, it also began the period when the Japanese became two officials and actually mastered the central and local administrative power.

In order to speed up the annexation of South Korea, Japan strengthened the rule of the gendarmerie in South Korea. When the unified supervision office was established, there were about 800 Japanese gendarmes in South Korea. By the end of the first year of Longxi (1907), the number had increased to more than 2,000, and by the second year of Longxi (1908), it had reached more than 8,600. There are military police agents all over Korea. In the past, Japan had only 1 divisions in Korea. After the establishment of the Governor's Office of South Korea, before May of the second year of Longxi (1908), 1 brigade, two infantry regiments and 1 cavalry regiment were added. Cruel persecution and bloody suppression measures were taken against the resistance of the Korean people. According to the official statistics of unified prison administration, from July of the first year of Longxi (1907) to the end of the second year of Longxi (1908), nearly 1.5 million anti-Japanese Koreans were killed.

In the spring of the third year of Longxi (1909), Japanese Foreign Minister Hisataro Komura ordered Satoru Tieji, the undersecretary of foreign affairs, to draft a document on North Korea. Satoru Tieer drafted "Policy Guidelines" and "Policy Outline" for the annexation of South Korea. On March 30th, Takamura submitted these two documents to Prime Minister Keitaro, and Keitaro handed them over to the then Cabinet for deliberation. 10 in April, Kyotaro, Takamura and Ito, the governor of South Korea in Tokyo, secretly talked about annexing South Korea. Ito Bowen expressed full agreement with these two documents. On July 6, the Japanese cabinet passed the document and was approved by the emperor. The "policy toward the DPRK", that is, the resolution on the merger of Japan and South Korea, stipulates: "The merger of South Korea will be resolutely implemented at an appropriate time. Make the merged Korea a part of the (Japan) imperial territory. " The policy outline for South Korea mainly includes the following contents: before the time comes to merge South Korea, it is necessary to "station the necessary troops in South Korea and send a large number of gendarmerie and police"; "Hand over the Korean Railway to the Japanese Government Railway Institute"; "Immigration to South Korea as much as possible to strengthen Japanese power"; "Further expand the authority of Japanese officials in South Korea's central government and local government offices", and so on. 12 In July, Japan forced the South Korean government to sign an "agreement". The Korean government handed over judicial power and prison affairs to the judicial department of the General Inspectorate, and then abolished the military department of the Korean government. In the third year of Longxi (1909), 14, in June, Ito Bowen resigned as a supervisor, and the deputy supervisor once helped you to be promoted to supervisor. Ito Bowen's resignation marked the end of the political period of unified supervision in North Korea and entered the period of merger. The main purpose of the merger period was to implement the plan of annexing the Korean peninsula and gain the support of international imperialism. In the third year of Longxi (1909), in June, 5438+00, Ito Bowen went to the northeast of China to have a secret talk with Russian Finance Minister Kokovtsov. One plot is to further plunder the rights and interests of Northeast China, and the other is to gain the understanding that Russia will annex South Korea. In the same year1October 26th 10, South Korean patriot An Zhonggen shot and killed Ito Bowen at Harbin Station. On February 22nd, 65438, Li Zaiming ambushed the traitor Li Wanyong, causing Li Wanyong to be seriously injured and almost killed.

The assassination of Ito Bowen greatly shocked Japanese imperialism. The Japanese government took the opportunity to incite revenge and create public opinion for annexing South Korea. Military and political leaders Yamagata Aritomo, Dazhong Xin and Terauchi Masatake persuaded Keitaro's cabinet to annex South Korea immediately, and some people made public statements and talks, urging the government to take decisive measures. The royal media also contributed to the fire. Organizations such as "Korean Comrades' Association" and "Kai Paradise" have come out of the mountain and made speeches everywhere, advocating the annexation of South Korea. At the beginning of the 4th year of Longxi (19 10), in the 26th Japanese parliament, opposition party members organized a "Central Club" to ask the Prime Minister to hold the incumbent governor responsible for "failing to promote the merger". In the fourth spring of Longxi (19 10), you helped to go back to Tokyo for medical treatment, and the Japanese government dismissed you. On May 30th, Terauchi Masatake, a general and former secretary of the army, was appointed as the supervisor. On June 3, the Japanese cabinet adopted a policy toward South Korea. According to this policy, after the annexation of South Korea, the Governor's Office was established. On the Korean peninsula, "the Governor is directly subordinate to the Emperor" and "has the right to manage all government affairs" and "gives the Governor great power to issue relevant legal matters and orders". On this basis, Terauchi Masatake drafted the Japan-South Korea Merger Treaty, including 22 clauses such as renaming "Korea" as "North Korea". In the fourth year of Longxi (19 10), on August 22nd, the Japanese army, the Constitution and the police in Seoul were all deployed, and the whole city was on alert, especially the gates, intersections, ministers' official residences and palaces. In the afternoon 1, hold a headquarters meeting. Premier Li Wanyong explained the negotiations with the Ombudsman's Office, stressed that the "Korea-Japan alliance" was inevitable, and announced that all ministers were unanimously in favor of the alliance. At four o'clock in the afternoon, Li Wanyong and Zhao Zhongying, Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, went to the unified supervision department, submitted the power of attorney granted by Emperor Chunzong and signed the contract. Li Wanyong and Terauchi Masatake formally signed the Japan-South Korea merger treaty. On August 29th, the Japan-Korea merger treaty came into effect and South Korea perished.

There are eight articles in the Japan-Korea Merger Treaty. Article 1 stipulates: "His Majesty the Emperor of Korea will cede all sovereignty of South Korea to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan completely and permanently". Article 2 stipulates that "His Majesty the Emperor of Japan accepts the cession mentioned in the preceding article and allows the whole of Korea to be incorporated into the Japanese Empire", and so on. On September 30th of the same year, the official system of the North Korean Governor's Office was announced, and Terauchi Masatake was appointed as the first Governor's Office, and the Governor's Office was established on June 65438+1 October1. The Governor's Office carried out the assimilation policy of "Japan-South Korea integration" for the purpose of "imperialism" (slavery) on the Korean peninsula in order to destroy the Korean nation. Under the rule of the Japanese military chief, the military ruled the Korean peninsula arbitrarily, with the military police commander as the chief of police, prohibiting associations and assemblies on the Korean peninsula and abolishing freedom of speech and the press. In addition, the Korean Education Order was promulgated to enslave the Korean peninsula, forcing Koreans to use Japanese as the "national language" and forcing schools at all levels to teach in Japanese. Japan also fully controls the economic lifeline of the Korean peninsula. During the 10 year after the annexation of the Korean peninsula, Japanese colonists seized more than half of the land from the farmers on the Korean peninsula, and only the Toyo colonial society occupied more than 654.38+10,000 hectares of land. 75% farmers on the Korean peninsula have become tenant farmers and semi-tenant farmers because they lost their land. In the first four years of annexing Korea, the colonialists increased the tax revenue by four to five times. Japanese colonists also increased the export of grain and raw materials on the Korean peninsula. From1910-1919, in terms of value, rice yield increased by 17 times, soybean increased by more than 3 times and cotton increased by 26 times. In order to consolidate its colonial rule, the Japanese government has also continuously immigrated to the Korean peninsula. Since then, the Korean peninsula with a long history of thousands of years has become a colony directly ruled by Japan. Li Mao was demoted as "Li Wang of Changde Palace" and Li Xi was demoted as "Li Wang of Deshou Palace". He was placed under house arrest in this 500-year-old palace and became a foreign prisoner in his own country. The Korean Empire lasted 13 years and was divided into two emperors.