Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1907 (第三次日韓協約)
The Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty was a treaty concluded on July 24, 1907.
In retaliation of the Hague Secret Emissary Affair, on July 18, 1907, Japan made Emperor Gojong (Emperor Gwangmu) abdicate. The Korean Empire had become a protectorate of Japan under the terms of the earlier Eulsa Treaty, and had thus lost the right to conduct diplomatic exchanges with other countries. In addition to that, this new treaty gave the Japanese Resident-General the right to appoint and dismiss high-ranking officials (Article 4) and stipulated that all high-ranking officials appointed to the Korean government must be Japanese (Article 5). This brought the domestic administration of Korea fully under the control of Japan. The unpublished section of the treaty also stipulated dissolution of the Korean army, and handover of judicial and policing powers to the Japanese inspector general.
Entire text
Article 1 The government of Korea shall follow the directions of the inspector general when it implements the reform of administration.
Article 2 Korea shall not enact any law or ordinance or carry out any critical administrative measure unless it gets prior approval of the inspector general.
Article 3 The judicial affairs of Korea shall be kept distinct from ordinary administrative affairs.
Article 4 The government of Korea shall get the consent of the inspector general before it appoints or dismisses Korean officials of high grade.
Article 5 The government of Korea shall appoint to official positions such Japanese as are recommended by the inspector general.
Article 6 The government of Korea shall not engage any foreigner without the consent of the inspector general.
Article 7 The first clause of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty signed on August 22, 1904 is hereby abrogated.
July 24, 1907, Inspector-General and Marquess, Ito Hirobumi (seal)
July 24, 1907, Order of Second Class and Prime Minister, Lee Wan-Yong (seal)
Diplomatic memorandum
(unpublished)
Based on the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty signed on July 24, 1907, the following items shall gradually be enacted.
Item 1. The following courts, composed of people from both Japan and Korea, shall be newly established.
1. One Supreme Court shall be located in Keijo (old name of Seoul City) or Suwon. The position of the President and the Attorney General shall be held by Japanese. Two of the justices and five of the secretaries shall be Japanese.
2. Three Courts of Appeal
One of them shall be located in the central region, and one each in the northern and southern regions. Two of the justices, one of the prosecutors and five of the secretaries shall be Japanese.
3. Eight District Courts
Each of them shall be located at each of the locations of the prosecutor's offices in the eight former provinces. The chief of district courts and chief prosecutor shall be Japanese. Thirty two of all justices and eighty of all secretaries shall be Japanese, and shall be allocated in proper proportions depending on the degree of work required. One of the prosecutors shall be Japanese.
4. One hundred and thirteen Ward Courts
These ward courts are to be located in the locations of important regional offices. One of the justices and one of the secretaries shall be Japanese.
Item 2. The following prisons shall be newly established.
1. Nine prisons
One prison shall be located in the same area as each of the district courts, and one prison on one of the islands, and the governor of them shall be Japanese. Half the prison staff and the head warden shall be Japanese.
Item 3. Military forces shall be arranged as follows;
A battalion of the army shall be assigned to guarding the Imperial Palace, and the other battalions shall be disbanded. Educated officers shall be assigned to the Japanese army for training in the field, unless they have a strong reason to remain in the Korean army. Appropriate facilities shall be made in Japan for training Korean soldiers to become officers.
Item 4. All those currently in the service of Korea with the position of advisor or counselor shall be removed from their duties.
Item 5. Japanese shall be appointed the following positions of government officials of the Korean central government and local authorities.
Vice minister for each department
A chief of the internal police
A police commissioner and a deputy commissioner
Several secretaries and assistant secretaries of the Cabinet
Several secretaries and assistant secretaries of each department
An administrator of each province
A head of the police of each province
Several local secretaries of each province
The matter of other appointments of Japanese as officials in the areas of finance, policing and technology shall be set down by a later agreement.