Empire of Japan

====Annexation of Korea====
{{Main|Korea under Japanese rule}}

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, various Western countries actively competed for influence, trade, and territory in East Asia, and Japan sought to join these modern colonial powers. The newly modernised Meiji government of Japan turned to Korea (under the Joseon dynasty), then in the [[sphere of influence]] of China's Qing dynasty. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Korea from Qing and make Korea a Japanese [[puppet state]] in order to further their security and national interests.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duus |first=Peter |title=The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895–1910 |publisher=Berkeley: University of California Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0520213616}}</ref>

In January 1876, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan employed [[gunboat diplomacy]] to pressure the Joseon Dynasty into signing the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876, which granted [[Extraterritoriality|extraterritorial rights]] to Japanese citizens and opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade. The rights granted to Japan under this [[unequal treaty]],<ref name=autogenerated1>[http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707220222.html A reckless adventure in Taiwan amid Meiji Restoration turmoil] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031070532/http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707220222.html |date=October 31, 2007 }}, ''THE ASAHI SHIMBUN'', Retrieved on July 22, 2007.</ref> were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore Perry.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Japanese involvement in Korea increased during the 1890s, a period of political upheaval.

Korea (under the [[Korean Empire]]) was ''de facto'' occupied and declared a Japanese [[protectorate]] following the [[Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905]]. After proclaimed the founding of the Korean Empire, Korea was officially [[annexed]] in Japan through the annexation treaty in 1910.

In Korea, the period is usually described as the "Time of Japanese Forced Occupation" ([[Hangul]]: {{lang|ko|일제 강점기}}; ''Ilje gangjeomgi'', [[Hanja]]: 日帝强占期). Other terms include "Japanese Imperial Period" ([[Hangul]]: {{lang|ko|일제시대}}, ''Ilje sidae'', [[Hanja]]: 日帝時代) or "Japanese administration" ([[Hangul]]: {{lang|ko|왜정}}, ''Wae jeong'', {{lang|ko|[[Hanja]]: 倭政}}). In Japan, a more common description is {{nihongo|"The Korea of Japanese rule"|日本統治時代の朝鮮|Nippon Tōchi-jidai no Chōsen}}. The [[Korean Peninsula]] was officially part of the Empire of Japan for 35 years, from August 29, 1910, until the formal Japanese rule ended, ''de jure'', on September 2, 1945, upon the [[surrender of Japan]] in [[World War II]]. The 1905 and 1910 treaties were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965.