The Rising Sun

     The Manchu conquest of China and establishment of the Ching Dynasty seemed to have re-established China as the supreme power in Asia.  However, the Ching Dynasty's supremacy was not all that long lasting, at least not by the standards set by the previous Chinese dynasties.  The Ching appeared to dominate Asia in the 17th Century after first establishing itself firmly in all of China.  Japan seemed to keep more or less to itself, only raiding some southern territories, the Ryukus Islands chain in particular, and the Wako (pirates) continued their activities both on the Chinese coast and Korea.
     Korea, still under the Chosun Dynasty became the vassal state of Ching as they were before the tributary of Ming.  The Imjin Wars had a devastating effect on Korea.  Not only had its population suffered, but the government was weakened considerably.  The Chosun Dynasty, which had taken over the former Koryo Dynasty, had been in power since the late 14th Century.  The Chosun Dynasty was responsible for many advancements, scientific discoveries and inventions.  In the 15th Century, prior to the Imjin Wars, Chosun Dynasty invented the first moveable printing press, several decades ahead of Guttenberg in Europe!  Chosun Dynasty was responsible for the introduction of the simplified Korean written system, the hangul.  There were also numerous scientific inventions such as the first really accurate rain gauge in the world!  All of these advancements went for naught in the next several hundred years!  The government, after Imjin Wars, was mostly run by corrupt and ineffective officials, and the population suffered greatly.  It wasn't until the very last Chosun Emperor, when things started to turn around. 
     King Kojong was a very forward thinking individual, and unlike some of his predecessors, genuinely interested in the welfare of his people and his country.  He knew that Korea had to drag itself into the modern world, that it could not remain as a "hermit kingdom," something which his predecessors, including his father, King Taewon-gun, insisted on.  When Kojong took the throne in 1874.  Kojong saw what Japan was doing under Emperor Meiji with rapid modernization, and felt that Korea would be left behind if it didn't do the same thing, perhaps even more.  One of the most amazing things that he did was to hire an American, a judge from Oregon who had just completed a stint as the U.S. Consul General in Shanghai, by the name of Owen Denny.  Korea had no one at the time who was trained abroad and was familiar with western politics and ways.  Kojong hired Denny and appointed him Director of Foreign Affairs and Vice President of Home Office!  In short, he wanted to completely revamp how Korea did business with the outside world as well as its internal affairs!  Denny became essentially Korea's Foreign Minister or Secretary of State for 4 years, from 1886 to 1890!
     Although Kojong's attempt to modernize Korea was certainly a worthy effort and hiring of Denny a very progressive (if not popular) act, it was too little too late.  Denny worked hard, but met with a lot of resistance from Korean officials who did not want to change and resented the fact that a foreigner was put in such a high position.  Denny left Korea after 4 years, and shortly Kojong died.  With the death of Kojong, his widow took over, but the Japanese were busy trying to take over Korea.  The Empress was assassinated by Japanese from their mission in Seoul, the assassination was planned and directed by the Japanese Minister to Korea at that time!
     With the assassination of the Empress, Japan essentially took over Korea and only needed to formally announce their annexation.  However, Japan was not through with its expansion plans.  The first Sino-Japanese War was fought between 1894 and 1895, essentially it was for control of Korea.  Japan wanted the Ching Dynasty China completely out of Korea.  Japan won, and the next step was to oust the Russians from Korea where they held some concessions like stationing their fleet in the port of Inchon.  Russia also had control of Manchuria, which interested Japan very much, so the next war was the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.  The aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War gave Japan absolute control over Korea, and quite a bit o control over Manchuria.  A quarter of a century later, in 1931, Japan formally took over Manchuria.