Treaty of Kanghwa Term Paper

In 1876, Korea signed a treaty that greatly altered its course in history. This treaty was essential in propelling Korea into a period of total change. The Treaty of Kanghwa forced Korea out of isolationism and by doing so the Korean people began to become frustrated with the lack of change compared to the outside world, leading to the Enlightenment Coup of 1884, a period of Chinese domination, and ultimately a power struggle concerning foreign powers over the peninsula of Korea.
Prior to 1876, the nation was one that adhered to isolationism and the principals of Neo-Confucianism that had been staunchly supported by Yi Hang-No, a prominent Korean scholar. As stated in his writing, Yi Hang-No believed that as long as the people of Korea followed Neo-Confucian principles, then there would be no need for Western goods and the Westerners would stop coming.1 He was determined to protect Korea from the evils of the outside world through isolationism and he saw Japan as inferior. This thought of superiority over Japan was consistent among Koreans and this would prove to be a fatal flaw. Japanese thought was very different from the old, traditional thinking of Korea. Japan was very much more westernized and this created tension between Japan and Korea. As Japan began to resist the hierarchical structure in which Korea was higher, fear of foreign military strength led Korea to consider a conciliatory policy change towards Japan. However, negotiations were short-lived after the Japanese completely insulted the traditional rituals that governed negotiations by arriving in western garb. Ultimately, Japan decided to take action against Korea, leading to the Unyo Incident where a Japanese ship, the Unyo, sent a few small boats to invade Korea waters. When the boats were fired upon, the Japanese used that as an excuse to send a flotilla to invade the island of Kanghwa and demand a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation. The Treaty of Kanghwa that the Koreans signed