Alright. This is for a school project. I need to post this survey. Please do answer, I am... quite desperate. Actually, I sound quite whiny. You have a choice, do whatever you want. However, I will be glad to provide research into the topic. I am all too proud to bring light into this topic, whether of my own volition or not. This is a dual-purpose thread. First, to find people willing to answer my form. Two, to bring light onto this issue plaguing Japan and Korea. I am proud to act, thank you very much. I desire to shed light, but as I am on one side of the dispute I will likely be biased. Therefore, a poll without inherent bias was ideal, as at least some would actually study the topic. Without ado... the poll! Loading... I'm so sorry...
For anyone who wants to do research on the topic but can't be bothered sifting through Google, here's a quick summary. In the late 1800s, Korea didn't want to be under the influence of Japan. The Empress, Myeongseong, advocated stronger ties with the Russian Empire to bring it under their sphere of influence. This outraged the Japanese, who had their pro-Japanese Korean regiment assassinate her, prompting outrage amongst the people of Korea and the other great powers of the world. In 1904, the Empire of Japan, supported by the United Kingdom, went to war with the Russian Empire. By 1905, they had won - a massive shock to the world, who had long viewed Asians as inferior to Europeans, even with a nation as backwater and undeveloped as Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution. This weakened Russia's influence over the Korean Empire. Worried about the status of the Philippines and Korea and American influence in Asia, the Secretary of State and future president, William Howard Taft, hosted discussions with the Prime Minister of Japan, Katsura TarÅ. Japan was now given free reign over Korea. The Japanese placed their army in strategic positions around the Korean peninsula and held the Imperial Palace under threat of being stormed by the army. They wanted Korean officials to agree to the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905. The Prime Minister did not agree to the treaty, and was threatened with bodily harm and death by the Japanese until he caved. This treaty then allowed the Japanese to annex Korea in 1910 - until 1945, when Korea was split between the American occupied South and Soviet-occupied North, the Korean people were subject to concentration camps, forced labour, genocide, just... your typical colonial treatment. The Japan-Korea Treaty was declared void by the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1965, which established the beginnings of diplomatic relations between the two nations so they could co-operate economically and, of course, diplomatically, as allies of the United States. However, to this day, Japan contests the Korean claim on the Liancourt Rocks, citing the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 as their claim. The rocks are useless, but what annoys the Korean people is the Japanese using the void and colonial treaty as their claim. The South Korean government uses the matter (which, might I add, is very costly) to score political points and appear as if they're protecting Korea from the big bad neighbour to the East, but if it contested the claim at the International Court of Justice, they would never win.
Submitted, didn't have much clue what the topic was but hope what little I contributed halped! Good luck on the project ^-^/
