British policy towards Korea 1882-1910.

In attempting to evaluate British policy towards Korea during the years 1882- 1910 , the first requirement is to consider the nature of Korean society itself and the changes that were taking place within it . Korea, however, had a special historical relationship with China and there impinged on this both Japanese and Russian aspirations . As a result, British policy towards Korea has to be examined in the light of Britain's interests in the highly complex Far Eastern situation which,in turn, cannot be divorced from her global interests. The Study thus becomes one of an analysis of inter- state relationships. The course of investigation flows from the British Korean Treaty of 1882 to the British response to the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 . The main areas of investigation are the Port Hamilton Incident (1885- 1887), the Sino- Japanese War (1894- 1895) , the Anglo Japanese Alliance (1902), the Russo - Japanese War (1904 - 1905) and the renewal of the Anglo - Japanese Alliance (1905)· It is within the above framework that an attempt is made to consider the extent to which British policy towards Korea was determined by her attitude towards Korea alone and to what extent by far broader considerations.