CHOSEN
565
China, and the Emperor of Japan also claimed his allegiance, but by the Treaty of Kokwa, concluded with Japan in 1876, the independence of the country was acknow- ledged, though China, which assented to Corea's conclusion of this and other treaties with foreign Powers as an independent kingdom, inconsistently continued to claim suzerainty. Upon the establishment of Japanese in the ports of Fusan and Yuensan. the prejudice against foreign intercourse gradually abated, and on the 2nd May, 1882, a treaty of friendship and commerce was signed by the Corean Government at Jenchuan (Chemulpo) with Commodore Shufeldt on behalf of the United States. A Treaty with England was signed by Sir Harry Parkes on the 26th November, 1883; in 1884 treaties were also concluded with Germany and Russia, and later with France, Italy, and Austria. The native population of Corea in 1917 was estimated to be 16,617,431. The foreign population in 1917, exclusive of Japanese, was 18,012, of whom 16,904 were Chinese, 700 Americans and 239 British. The latter are mostly missionaries. The Japanese population in 1917 was 332,456 as against 320,938 in 1916. Since the Russo-Japanese war, the Japanese population has increased at the rate of between 20 and 30 per cent. The total population, as returned by the Census Board in 1920, was 17,284,207. One small English newspaper, the Seoul Press (conducted by Japanese), is published in Seoul.
The industries of Corea are mainly agricultural. The foreign trade of the country has shown steady development under the fostering care of the Japanese, and a record was established in 1918. In 1904, the total value of the country's foreign trade was yen 34,933,306. In 1918 the value was yen 212,498,511-exports yen 154,189,148, and imports yen 158,309,363, as against exports yen 83,785,000 and imports yen 102,886,000 in 1917. This shows an increase of 55 million yen in imports, and an increase of over 70 million yen in exports as compared with 1917. Japan naturally does the bulk of the trade, her share in 1918 being 74.1 per cent. of the imports and 89.0 per cent. of the exports. China came next with 14.3 per cent. of imports, and .98 per cent. of experts. Jinsen (Chemulpo) was the most important port in the foreign trade of the peninsula for a long time, but the foreign trade of Fusan has increased largely in recent years and to-day it leads all the rest. The jurisdiction of Consular Courts was abolished under the proclamation of annexation, and foreigners are therefore now amenable to the Japanese courts, as they are in Japan proper.
Gold mining has become in recent years an important industry. There are several gold mines now being worked by British, American, French and Italian syndicates. A number of placer and other mines are worked by natives on a small scale and by Japanese. There is a tendency to increase in the output by Japanese operators, for mining is beginning to attract the attention of capitalists of good repute in Japan. Especially has the European war stimulated the more extensive undertakings of mining by Japanese capitalists.
A brighter era dawned for trade and commerce and much else in Corea when the agreement of 1904 was negotiated, giving to Japan virtual control of the administration. Japan lost no time in exercising the power she had acquired. The reform of the effete, incompetent and corrupt administration which had for centuries been in vogue in Corea was a task of no little magnitude. The old order of things cannot be changed in a day, or a decade, but a most promising commencement has been made. Japan has set to work organising, as among the first essentials of good government, a judicial system which will guarantee the honest and impartial administration of justice by trained judges. A beginning has also been made with the codification of the laws of the country. Gradually the system of local administration is being reformed in a manner which will eliminate old political abuses and lead up ultimately to a system of local autonomy. Reform of the financial administration has received a great deal of attention with excellent results, and among other branches of administration which have been already inoculated with the leaven of reform are the Educational and the Police systems. topographical changes that are being brought about in Corea are, perhaps, reforms of the greatest general interest. Fine highways connecting village with village and town with town are now replacing the bridle paths and ruts that have always passed for roads in Corea, and railways are gradually spreading put and linking up the chief centres of population throughout the country. The plan of the Government was the construction of 23 State roads of a length of almost fifteen hundred miles at a cost of ten million yen, but this scheme was subsequently modified. There are now in Corea, including roads constructed prior to the annexation in 1910, over, sixteen hundred miles of graded highways. First-class roads are 24 feet wide, and include those con- necting the capital with the provincial governments; second class roads are 18 feet
The