Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/241

 On the 8th of February the Japanese posted notices in Seoul and vicinity that what Japan was about to do was dictated by motives of right and justice, and that the property and personal rights of Koreans would be respected. Koreans were urged to report any cases of ill-treatment to the Japanese authorities and immediate justice was promised. From this day the port of Chemulpo was practically blockaded by the Japanese, and only by their consent could vessels enter or clear.

Having arrived at the point of actual rupture between Japan and Russia, it is necessary, before entering into any details of the struggle, to indicate the precise bearing of it upon Korea. Japan has always looked upon Korea as a land whose political status and affinities are of vital interest to herself, just as England once looked upon the Cinque ports, namely, as a possible base of hostile action, and therefore to be carefully watched. One of two things have therefore been deemed essential, either that Korea should be thoroughly independent or that she should be under a Japanese protectorate. These two ideas have animated different parties in Japan and have led to occasional troubles. There is one radical faction which has consistently and persistently demanded that Japan's suzerainty over Korea should be established and maintained, and it was the unwillingness of the Japanese authorities to adopt strong measures in the peninsula which led to the Satsuma Rebellion. Another large fraction of the Japanese, of more moderate and rational view, are committed to the policy of simply holding to the independence of Korea, arguing very rightly that if such independence is maintained and the resources of the country are gradually developed, Japan will reap all the material advantages of the situation without shouldering the burden of the Korean administration or meeting the violent opposition of the Koreans, which seizure would inevitably entail. It is this latter policy which has prevailed, and according to which Japan has attempted to work during the past three decades. It is this which actuated her during the period of China's active claim to suzerainty and at last caused the War of