Taft-Katsura agreement
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The Taft-Katsura Agreement was a secret agreement signed between William Howard Taft, United States Secretary of War, and Katsura Taro, Prime Minister of Japan, in July 1905. In the agreement, the United States recognized Japan's sphere of influence in Korea; in exchange, Japan recognized the United States's sphere of influence in the Philippines. The Taft-Katsura Agreement was an initial step that paved the way for the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth in September 1905.
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| The [Neutral point of view>neutrality] of this section is [NPOV disputedisputed]. Please see the discussion on the [27 July 1905. The memorandum detailing these discussions was dated 29 July 1905. Many people (generally Koreans as most Americans are unaware of this bit of history) mistakenly believe that the Taft-Katsura Agreement was a bilaterally signed document or secret treaty. It is not a signed agreement or treaty, only a meeting memorandum (seemingly jointly prepared with the Japanese) wired to President Roosevelt from Secretary Taft on July 29. There were three significant issues discussed during the meeting. First was Katsura’s views on peace in East Asia which he stated formed the fundamental principle of Japan's foreign policy and was best accomplished by a good understanding between Japan, US and UK (UK and Japan were allies under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance signed in 1902). The second issue concerned the Philippines. On this Secretary of War Taft observed that Japan's only interest in the Philippines would be to have them governed by a strong and friendly nation like the US; Katsura confirmed in the strongest terms the correctness of Taft’s views and stated that Japan does not harbor aggressive designs on the Philippines. Finally, regarding Korea, Katsura observed that Korea is a matter of absolute importance to Japan as it was the direct cause of Japan’s war with Russia and the complete solution of the Korean problem would be the war’s logical consequence. Katsura further stated that if left alone, Korea would continue to improvidently enter into agreements/treaties with other powers which created the original problem. Therefore Japan must take steps to prevent Korea from again establishing the conditions which would force Japan into fighting another foreign war. For his part, Secretary Taft concurred that the establishment of Japanese suzerainty over Korea to prevent foreign treaties without Japan’s consent was the logical result of the present war (Russo-Japanese War) and would directly contribute to permanent peace in East Asia. Taft also presented his belief that President Roosevelt would concur in his views in this regard (which he did in a reply wire on July 29). It appears that as early as 6 months before this meeting, Roosevelt had already written off the Korean Peninsula as regards its rule by the Japanese. Many Koreans openly charge that the US betrayed Korea through the Taft-Katsura Agreement as they believe that it violated the spirit of the “good offices” clause in the "Korean-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce" signed at Incheon on May 22 1882. The Joseon Government considered that treaty a Mutual Defense Treaty while the Americans did not and the text of the agreement does not contain such provisions--just a clause about the use of "good offices." Koreans are also quick to identify this agreement as the direct cause of Korean colonization by Japan as it paved the way for recognition of Japanese interests in Korea as later stated in the Treaty of Portsmouth. Another view is that corruption and an inability to organize effective reform by the Joseon Royal Court going back several decades had rendered the Joseon Government incapable of defending itself from encroachment any outside governments. Since the US interests in the region were with the Philippines and since Japan and the UK had signed a treaty of alliance in 1902, the practicalities of the time would rule out US direct involvement to block Japanese efforts to colonize Korea. Regardless of the realities and facts at the time, Korean activists continue to refer to the Taft-Katsura Agreement when making arguments about why US cannot be trusted—especially as regards Korean security and sovereignty issues. It is believed that the Taft Katsura agreement signaled US acceptance of Japanese control of Korea which had been achieved in February 1904 when Japanese forces invaded Korea. Although the Korean Emperor agreed under duress to the Japanese demands, he sent Missionary-Diplomat Hulbert, an American and long time resident of Korea to Washington to protest and seek aid under the 1882 US-Korean Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce, and Navigation. However he was not allowed to present his protest to President Roosevelt. He was advised he had no credentials from the existing government of Korea, i.e. the government imposed by Japan. Eventually, the US interests in the Philippines and UK-Japan Treaty of Alliance in 1902 ruled out US direct involvement to block Japanese efforts to colonize Korea. See also
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