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On the Front Line: Establishment and Activities of the Chosŏn Legation in Tokyo
The signing of a treaty of amity between a modernized Meiji Japan and the Kingdom of Chosŏn (Jp. Nitchō Shūkō jōyaku; Kr. Kanhwado choyak) on February 26, 1876, became a transformative moment that marked the beginning of a new era of diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula. The treaty itself, being similar to the so-called Ansei treaties (Ansei jōyaku, 1854 Japan-United States Treaty of Peace and Amity, Jp. Nichibei Washin jōyaku and the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce, Jp. Nichibei Shūkō Tsūshō jōyaku) forced on Japan by the United States, was, of course, unequal. However, following the complicated geopolitical situation in the region, the Chosŏn government was pursuing a successful rapprochement with Japan (Larsen 2011, 61–62; Kim and Kim 1967, 17).1 As a result, Article 2 of the treaty provided for the exchange of envoys between Chosŏn and Japan within the next 15 months and the establishment of permanent missions in each country. Providing Chosŏn with an opportunity to perform the practices of modern diplomacy, this article stipulated that its envoys were to communicate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while on Japanese soil (Ch’oe 2010, 33). Yet, Chosŏn did not play this card right away. After 1876, Chosŏn entered into numerous treaties with both Western and Asian countries, but up until 1887, when the legation in Tokyo was set up, it did not establish a permanent diplomatic representation with its treaty partners. While it is easy to deduce that the traditional dependence on China was a key factor preventing Kojong, the king of Chosŏn, from engaging in global diplomacy, the timing of the establishment of the Chosŏn legation in Tokyo suggests the opposite.