Joseon–United States Treaty of 1882 explained

Joseon–United States Treaty of 1882
Long Name:	Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation
Date Drafted:	1882
Date Signed:	^[1]
Location Signed:	Chemulpo, Korea
Date Effective:	19 May 1883
Signatories:	Robert W. Schufeldt Kim Hong-jip
Languages:	English and Korean

A Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation^[2] (Hanja: 朝美修好通商條約), also known as the Shufeldt Treaty, was negotiated between representatives of the United States and Korea in 1882.^{[3] [4]}

The treaty was written in English and Hanja,^[5] with the final draft being accepted at Chemulpo (present day Incheon) near the Korean capital of Hanseong (now Seoul) in April and May 1884.^[6] It was Korea's first treaty with a western nation. After the United States assented to the Taft–Katsura agreement, the intervention clause was effectively nullified.

Background

In 1876, Korea established a trade treaty with Japan after Japanese ships approached Ganghwado and, following the Ganghwa Island incident, threatened to open fire on the Korean capital city. Treaty negotiations with the U.S. and with several European countries were made possible by the completion of this initial Japanese overture.^[7]

Negotiations with Qing were a significant feature of the process which resulted in this treaty.^[8] The Chinese played a significant role in the treaty negotiation, although Korea was an independent country at the time, which was explicitly mentioned in the treaty.^[9]

Treaty provisions

The United States and Korea negotiated and approved a 14 article treaty. The treaty established mutual friendship and mutual assistance in case of attack; and the treaty also addressed such specific matters as extraterritorial rights for U.S. citizens in Korea and most favored nation trade status.^{[2] [10]}

Abstract

The treaty encompasses a range of subjects.

• Article 1 provides:

• Article 2 ... exchange of diplomatic and consular representatives^[10]
• Article 3 ... United States vessels wrecked on coast of Korea^[10]
• Article 4 ... United States extraterritorial jurisdiction over its citizens in Korea^[10]
• Article 5 ... merchants and merchant vessels shall reciprocally pay duties^[10]
• Article 6 ... reciprocal rights of residence and protection of citizens of both nations^[10]
• Article 7 ... prohibiting export or import of opium^[10]
• Article 8 ... export of "breadstuffs" and red ginseng^[10]
• Article 9 ... regulating importation of arms and ammunition^[10]
• Article 10 .. reciprocal rights to employing native labor^[10]
• Article 11 .. students exchanges^[10]
• Article 14 .. the usual most-favored-nation clause^[10]

The treaty remained in effect until the annexation of Korea in 1910.

Aftermath

Joseon sent a diplomatic mission to the U.S. in 1883, marking the first ever such official visit to North America by Koreans.^[11] The U.S. treaty established a template which was explicitly modeled in treaties with European nations - Germany in 1883, Russia and Italy in 1884, France in 1886, and others as well.^[12]

The treaty remained in effect even after the Japanese protectorate was established in 1905,^[13] but ended with the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910.

See also

• United States expedition to Korea
• Korean Empire (1897)
• Taft–Katsura agreement (1905)
• Hague Secret Emissary Affair (1907)
• Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905
• Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910

References

• Kang, Woong Joe. (2005). The Korean Struggle for International Identity in the Foreground of the Shufeldt Negotiation, 1866-1882. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. ;
• Kang, Jae-un. (2006). The Land of Scholars: Two Thousand Years of Korean Confucianism. Paramus, New Jersey: Homa & Sekey Books. ;
• Kim, Chun-gil. (2005). The History of Korea. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ;
• Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922. (1922). Korea's Appeal to the Conference on Limitation of Armament. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
• Yŏng-ho Ch'oe; William Theodore De Bary; Martina Deuchler and Peter Hacksoo Lee. (2000). Sources of Korean Tradition: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries. New York: Columbia University Press. ; ;
• Pletcher, David M. (2001). The Diplomacy of Involvement: American Economic Expansion Across the Pacific, 1784-1900. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. ;

Further reading

• Arrighi, Giovanni; Hamashita, Takeshi and Selden, Mark. (2003). The Resurgence of East Asia: 500, 150 and 50 year Perspectives. London" Routledge. ;
• Walter, Gary D. "The Korean Special Mission to the United States of America in 1883," Journal of Korean Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, July–December 1969, pp. 89–142.

External links

• The 1882 U.S. and Korea Treaty: Draft and Final Versions

Notes and References

1. Web site: About this Collection | United States Treaties and Other International Agreements | Digital Collections | Library of Congress. https://web.archive.org/web/20161226152011/https://www.loc.gov/law/help/us-treaties/bevans/b-korea-ust000009-0470.pdf. 2016-12-26. .
2. Book: Treaties and conventions concluded between the United States of America since July 4, 1776 . 216. United States. Dept. of State . John H. Haswell . G.P.O. . 1889.
3. Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922. (1922). ; excerpt, "It is certain that in 1882 the United States recognized the independence and territorial integrity of Korea by entering into a treaty of amity and commerce with her as a separate national entity. The treaty was in due form. It was ratified by the Senate and in regular course it was formally "proclaimed" by President Arthur. Japan was the first nation to officially "congratulate" both Korea and the United States upon its consummation. This fact is noted in the report of Hon. John A. Bingham to Secretary Frelinghuysen, April 14, 1883. As though to emphasize the international effect of this treaty in recognizing this national entity, China protested the sending of Korean ministers to the United States, claiming suzerainty over Korea. The protest was patiently and fully considered on its merits and was overruled. Later China, conceding the position of the United States, also recognized, by specific treaty the independence and separate entity of Korea. Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Belgium, Denmark, and Italy, following the course of the United States, also made treaties of amity and commerce with Korea as a separate nation." ['''''italics + bold''''' added for emphasis]
4. Paullin . Charles Oscar . 1910 . The Opening of Korea by Commodore Shufeldt . Political Science Quarterly . 25 . 3 . 470–499 . 10.2307/2141171 . 0032-3195 . 2141171.
5. Web site: History of Korea.
6. Yŏng-ho Ch'oe et al. (2000). ; excerpt, "Korea signed a similar accord with the United States (the Treaty of Chelump'o, 1882) that was followed by similar agreements with other Western nations."
7. Kim, Chun-gil. (2005).
8. Kang, Woong Joe. (2005) ; Kang, Jae-un (2006). ; Pletcher, David M. (2001).
9. Web site: Korea. A Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country, since 1776. Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute. United States Department of State. July 14, 2020. The United States and the Kingdom of Choson (Korea) engaged in their first official diplomatic interaction on May 22, 1882, when representatives of the two states signed a treaty of amity and commerce at Chemulpo, Korea. The treaty had been negotiated with the assistance of Chinese officials, since China had for many years had influence in Korea’s foreign affairs due to a historical tributary relationship between the two countries. In fact, Korea was an independent state and this fact was acknowledged in the treaty. It was the first treaty Korea signed with a Western nation..
10. Korean Mission, ; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between the United States and Korea. Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation dated May 22, 1882."
11. Web site: 보빙사 (報聘使) . Bobingsa . 2024-01-27 . . ko.
12. Kim,
13. Korean Mission ; excerpt, "Official rescript issued by Japan, November 22, 1905, declares: 'In bringing this agreement to the notice of the powers having treaties with Korea, the Imperial Government declares that * * * they will see that these treaties are maintained and respected, and they also engage not to prejudice In any way the legitimate commercial and industrial interests of those powers in Korea'".