VII. THE GROWTH AND TRIBULATIONS OF MODERN KOREA
2. Economic Aggression by World Powers and the Movement to Protect the Right to Self-Reliance
(1) Unequal Treaties and Movements to Amend Them
All of the treaties that the Choson government concluded with Japan since 1876 were unequal in content. The Treaty of Amity stipulated that three ports including Pusan should be opened to Japanese merchants to build houses and to engage freely in commerce. In addition, Japanese criminals were placed under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Consul. As for trade regulations, no customs duties were to be imposed on trade with Japan and Japanese merchants could engage in commercial activities with Japanese currency in the open ports.
The unequal treaties concluded with Japan not only provided a legal springboard for Japan's political and economic aggressions against Choson but also negatively influenced future treaties signed with the United States, China, Germany, England and France. Thus, in a short time, Choson concluded unequal treaties with world powers which greatly infringed upon the political and economical autonomy of Choson.
 
Previous of the Korea-Japan Friendship Treaty : Signed in 1876, it was the first modern treaty between the two countries and led the way to the opening of Korean ports.

The United States officially established diplomatic relations with Korea on May 22. 1882, when commodore Robert W. Shufeldt negotiated and signed the Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation at Chemulp'o (present-day inch'on)

 
The government, realizing that the treaty with Japan was responsible for many difficulties, made many efforts to amend the article in the treaty which exempted Japan from paying tariffs. The government, while sending emissaries like Kim Hong-chip, to negotiate with Japan, also lobbied for diplomatic assistance from China and the U.S. Through these efforts a new treaty with Japan was reached in 1883.
However, the treaty concluded with Japan at this time was not equal either. Although Japan was obliged to pay tariffs, they were marginal and the rights of the Japanese consular to execute legal judgements and to reside in the open ports remained unchanged.
 
(2) Plundering Trade and Grain Embargo
The other world powers also forced Choson to conclude unequal treaties which therefore caused an unfair trade arrangement. Among them, merchants from Japan and China were the cruelest. For example, Chinese merchants bought British cotton goods at low prices in Shanghai and sold them at high prices to make tremendous profits, and also carried out smuggling activities under the protection of Yuan Shi-kai.
The Japanese merchants at first, acted as intermediaries in trade by buying and selling British goods but, with the gradual development of the domestic industry, Japan exported and sold Japanese goods. They mainly sold cotton goods, matches, liquor and chiefly bought rice, gold, cowhide and beans.
The Chinese and Japanese merchants competed in trading with Choson. But 50% of the amount of Choson imports and 90% of the amount of exports went to Japan. Rice from Choson, in particular, was an indispensable trade item to Japan where industry was developing and cheap rice was demanded in large quantities.
As a result of the plundering trade activities of the Japanese merchants in importing rice, the poor farmers and the laborers of Choson suffered the most. They had commonly experienced shortages of food but when rice began to be exported to Japan, the farmers and workers were even more hard-pressed. To make matters worse, they had to buy and use expensive industrial goods imported from Japan. Thus, in many areas, farmers and laborers frequently demanded that Japanese merchants be prohibited from trading and the export of rice to Japan.
The government foresaw this situation and wanted to insert a grain embargo clause in their treaty with Japan, but due to Japanese opposition, such efforts failed. They were, however, able to obtain a provision which stated that in cases of famine or other such situations, with one month prior notification to Japan, grain export might be temporarily suspended.
With the above provision, local governors operated the measure to block exports of rice and soybeans. Among them, the embargo of the Hamgyong and Hwanghae provinces were the most famous.
When the exports of rice and soyabeans were suspended as a result of such embargos, Japanese merchants made collective protests and appealed to their home government to add diplomatic pressure. The Japanese government threatened that unless the Choson government abolished the embargo and paid for damages to the Japanese merchants it would attack Choson by mobilizing its warships.
The Choson government, under Japanese pressure, was forced to lift the embargos and make indemnities to Japanese merchants. However, the unjustifiable pressure and plundering of grain by Japan planted deeper and stronger anti-Japanese feelings in the hearts of the Choson farmers and laborers. The peasant army which rose up with cries to expel foreign powers reflected this sentiment.
 
(3) Infiltration of Foreign Merchants and the Movement to Safeguard Commercial Rights
The trade activities of the Chinese and Japanese merchants naturally infringed upon Korean merchants' activities which had grown in the latter period of Choson. Therefore, in the open ports and in important cities throughout the country, merchants of Choson, China, and Japan repeatedly engaged in fierce competitive battles around commercial activities rights.
The Chinese merchants, on the basis of their superior capital, engaged in many activities in Inch'on and Seoul. They received the protection of Yuan Shi-kai and occupied the central streets of Seoul and carried out trade by sailing between Shanghai and Inch'on.
The Japanese merchants developed their activities in the open ports of Pusan and Wonsan, then gradually infiltrated into the interior and advanced to central Seoul. They received financial support from the Bank of Japan which was set up in Seoul and Pusan and took control of trade by traveling between Osaka and each of the open ports.
The Choson merchants engaged in domestic and foreign trade while confronting the Chinese and Japanese merchants, but they were soon driven out of the important commercial activities. Thus, they founded companies or Kaekchu corporations to collectively challenge the Chinese and Japanese merchants and sometimes even closed up shops to protest against illegal persons residing in Choson or unlawful commercial activities by the Chinese and Japanese merchants.
But the Choson merchants could not defeat the Chinese and Japanese merchants who infiltrated Choson through a strong screen known as extraterritoriality. Moreover, under foreign intervention, the government of Choson was unable to adequately protect its merchants, and Choson merchants could not help but reduce the sphere of their activities. The cries of the peasants army and the Hwalbin-dang to expel the foreign merchants out of Choson was a reflection of the resentment of Choson merchants who went bankrupt due to the infiltration of the foreigners, in particular, the Japanese merchants.
 
(4) The Succession of the Rights to Choson's National Resources by the World Powers and the Movement to Recover Them
The world powers took away various economic rights from Choson. In particular, when King Kojong was taking refuge in the Russian Legation and was unable to exercise the sovereign right to govern, the rights to Choson's railroads, mines, and forests went into the hands of Russia, the United States, Japan, France, England, and Germany.
Russia possessed the rights to the mines in Kyongwon and Chongsong plus the lumbering rights in the basins of the Yalu and Ulung Island. The United States held the rights to construction of the Seoul-Inch'on railroad, the mining rights to the Unsan gold mine plus the rights to install electricity and water works in Seoul. Japan obtained construction rights to the Seoul-Pusan railroad, gold mining and coastal fishing rights. France obtained rights to construct the Seoul-Sinuiju railroad. England held the mining rights to the Unsan gold mines and Germany had the mining rights to the Tanghyon gold mine.
When the rights to a country's natural resources, which are the basis for building a powerful nation, were transferred into the hands of other nations, the people began to denounce the government as corrupt and incapable. The people demanded the recovery of these rights which had been taken away. The Independence Council urged, through its publication of the Independent Newspaper, that the government rid itself of a policy of foreign dependency policy and adopt a diplomatic policy of self-reliance. They also advocated the recovery of these various rights, which had been taken away by foreign powers, and urged the development of natural resources in order to enhance the nation's own strength.
The Hwalbin-dang and the local people also urged the government to protect national resources. They pointed out that railroads are like the artery of the state and construction rights to them should not be given to foreigners and, therefore, the Seoul-Pusan and the Seoul-Sinuiju railways should be recovered.
The cries for the recovery of national resources from the people in the cities and rural communities gave impetus to the government to recover the construction rights to the Seoul-Pusan and Seoul-Sinuiju railroads. Hence, encouraging private capitalists to participate in railroad construction and mine development. However, due to the ever increasing infiltration of Japanese forces, which grew after the expulsion of the other invading powers, the efforts for the development of self-reliance by Choson failed.