1894 ANONYMOUS - Chosen Danpan - Korean negotiation.

A scene of a Japanese legation under the command of Hanabusa Yoshitada who is forcing the Korean King Kojong (1852-1919) to agree to Japanese demands during the Chemulpo Treaty.

 
Hanabusa Yoshitada (1842 - 1917) was a Japanese politician, diplomat and peer. Hanabusa was the eldest son of Hanabusa Tanren, a samurai retainer of Okayama Domain and the first mayor of the city of Okayama, Japan. He studied rangaku under the famed Ogata Kōan, and immediately after the Meiji Restoration in 1867 was sent to Europe and North America as a student. On his return in 1870, he was accepted into the Foreign Ministry. The same year, he was sent to Beijing as part of the Japanese delegation negotiating the opening of diplomatic relations between the Empire of Japan and Qing dynasty Empire of China.

Showing Hanabusa Yoshitada's return to Korea after the Imo-incident. The Imo Incident was a revolt that took place in July 1882 by military units opposed to King Kojng's growing support for reform and modernization and to his request for Japanese military advice. It was supported by the Taewon'gun, who was strongly critical of the Shufelt Treaty signed with the United States of America on 22 May, and who used the insurrection as a means of reasserting his control at the expense of Queen Min. Hanabusa Yoshitada, the Japanese minister to Korea and his aides were forced to flee Korea. After his return to Japan Hanabusa was sent back to Korea with a military force and was the chief Japanese negotiator for the Treaty of Chemulpo, (August 1882), which permitted the permanent stationing of Japanese troops in Seoul.

Kojong (1852-1919) was the 26th King of the Chosun Dynasty. He became the king in 1863 at the tender age of 11. His father, Daewongun, became the Regent and ruled the nation on his behalf. King Kojong's crafty wife, Queen Min, succeeded in dislodging Daewongung from power in 1873 and King Kojong assumed the power for the first time under the shadow of his domineering wife.

The 1882 Chemulpo Treaty of Amity and Trade was largely engineered by Queen Min. The Treaty involved more than friendship and fair trades: it was in effect a mutual defense treaty. King Kojong believed that the United States would protect his kingdom from any foreign invasion. He felt safe after getting the US to sign the Treaty.