Korean guerilla war against Japanese occupation

Years 1907 1910 Battle deaths 17,736 By 1905 Japan had thwarted Chinese and Russian bids for influence over the Korean Peninsula and felt comfortable in demanding of Korea a relationship to her benefit. The 1905 Taft Katsura agreement in effect gave tacit U.S. approval to the Japanese colonization of the peninsula in exchange for Japanese recognition of U.S. influence over the Philippines. Without opposition in Korea, in November 1905 Japan concluded a treaty with King Kojong, making Korea a protectorate and giving herself control over Koreas foreign relations and external matters. The Japanese resident general also slowly took over internal affairs. With the forced abdication of the king in 1907, his son Sukjong took the throne. Japan pressured him to abdicate three years later and formally annexed the country in April 1910.