Hague Secret Emissary Affair

Hague Secret Emissary Affair
Hangul	헤이그 특사사건
Hanja	헤이그 特使事件
Revised Romanization	Heigeu teuksa sageon
McCune–Reischauer	Heigŭ t'ŭksa sakŏn

Hague Secret Emissary Affair (Heigeu teuksa sageon, 헤이그 특사사건) resulted from Korean Emperor Gojong sending confidential emissaries to the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, the Netherlands, in 1907.^[1] But the great powers did not allow Korea to take part in this conference.

Background

Following the Taft-Katsura Agreement and Japan's victory over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, Japan sought to formalize its control over the Korean peninsula. Japan assumed hegemony over the Empire of Korea in conformity with the Eulsa Treaty. Koreans thought the treaty and the process were "alleged".^[2]

Korean Emperor Gojong sent emissaries to the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, the Netherlands, in 1907; but the great powers blocked this diplomatic mission.^[3]

The Korean Emperor Gojong sent three secret emissaries, Yi Jun (이준, 李儁), Yi Sang-Seol (이상설, 李相卨) and Yi Wi-Jong (이위종, 李瑋鐘) to the Second Hague Peace Convention to declare the invalidity of Japanese diplomatic maneuvers, including the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 (Eulsa Treaty). Gojong's representatives asserted the monarch's rights to rule Korea independent of Japan. However, the great powers did not allow the emissaries to take part in the conference.

Gojong's emissaries were unable to gain entry into the convention hall. Korea was no longer viewed as an independent nation by the great powers, and Japan was seen as representing her on the international stage.

Recision

In 1965, the treaties of Japan were confirmed to be "already null and void" by the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea.^[4]

In 2010, Japan argued that the chronological point of reference for "already null and void" was August 15, 1948, when the government of the Republic of Korea was established; but the Korean analysis of the 1965 declaration construes it as acknowledging the nullification of all treaties and agreements from 1904 onwards,^[5] which is consistent with the argument Yi Jun and others attempted to articulate in the Netherlands in 1907.

Notes

^ Carter J. Eckert, Ki-baik Lee, Young Ick Lew, Michael Robinson, and Edward W. Wagner, Korea Old and New: A History (Seoul: Ilchokak / Korea Institute, Harvard University, 1990), 245.
^ Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922. (1922). Korea's Appeal, pp. 3-44., p. 3, at Google Books
^ Eckert, Carter J. et al. (1990). Korea Old and New: A History, p. 245.
^ "Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea". "It is confirmed that all treaties or agreements concluded between the Empire of Japan and the Empire of Korea on or before August 22, 1910 are already null and void."
^ Lee Man-yeol. "For a view of history that puts us at the center," Northeast Asian History Foundation News. 2010.

References

Eckert, Carter J., Ki-baik Lee, Young Ick Lew, Michael Robinson, and Edward W. Wagner. (1990). Korea Old and New: A History. Cambridge: Harvard UniversityPress. 10-ISBN 0962771309/13-ISBN 9780962771309; OCLC 23071907
Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922. (1922). Korea's Appeal to the Conference on Limitation of Armament. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 12923609
United States. Dept. of State. (1919). Catalogue of treaties: 1814-1918. Washington: Government Printing Office. OCLC 3830508
Scott, James Brown. (1921). Korea, Treaties and Agreements. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. OCLC 459192091