THE KOREAN REVOLUTION.
16. The protest and opposition of the Korean People to Japanese annexation of their country and to the process of political extermination applied to them by the Mikado's agents, has now expressed itself in the Korean Revolution. On the First of March at p.m., the Korean People and Nation declared their independence. This act of independence was formally done by the National Independence Union, composed of three million Koreans repre- senting and expressing the desire and will of 18,700,000 Koreans in Korea proper, in China, in Siberia, in Hawail and in the United States.
The declaration states: "It is our solemn duty to secure the right of free and perpetual development of our own national character, adapting ourselves to the principles of the reconstruction of the world-to secure our independence, to wipe out injuries, get rid of our present sufferings, and leave our children eternal freedom instead of a bitter and shametul inheritance."
PROGRESS OF THE REVOLUTION.
17. The Korean Delegation-appointed by the New Korean Young Men's Society to which are affiliated the Korean National Independence Union and other Bodies organised in the cause of Korean independence-is in receipt of several cable despatches, reporting the progress of the revolution and the national movement for independence.
A despatch from the Korean National Independence Union received in Paris, via Shanghai, on April 7 instant, reads in part as follows: "On March 26 we held grand demonstrations at Seoul. Our national Hags were flown on the city hills. The Japanese Authorities arrested two hundred of those who participated in the demonstrations. There were casualties on both sides. Samnam (i.e. all provinces south of Seoul) are uprising every day. Korean demonstrations are taking place in Eastern Siberia and Manchuria".
THE KOREAN REPUBLIC.
18. The same despatch reports the organisation of a Provisional Republican Government of Korea, consisting of a President, Vice-President, Secretary of State, Minister for Home Affairs, Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice and Minister of War.
Among those included in the Provisional Government are Prince Pak Yung-hio and Messrs. Rhee Syngman, Ahn Chang Ho and Li Tong Whi. Prince Pak Yung-hio is one of the five great leaders who inaugurated what is known in Korean history as the movement of the Progressive Party in 1884. He was the chief figure among the Progressives who, in 1891, compelled the introduction of modern reforms into Korea. He was at one time Minister for Home Affairs before the annexation. Rhee Syngman is an M.A. of Harvard. U.S.A. and Ph. D. of Princeton, B.S.A. Since 1894 he has been one of the leaders of the old Korean Independence Club. As a political worker, he has suffered imprisonment and he has also been tortured. Ahn Chang Ho is the founder of the Sin Min Huch of People's Society and, since 1905, has been a leader of young Korean nationalists. He is the President of the Korean National Association. Li Tong Whi is a former major in the old Korean Army and a recognised leader of Korean nationalists in Siberia and Manchuria. He has been imprisoned and tortured by the Japanese Authorities.
JAPANESE REPRESSION.
19. Another despatch received by the Korean Delegation on April 10 instant, states that "from first March up to date, active demonstrations of the Independence movement have been very well conducted all over Korea. Repre- sentatives prefer passive revolution, including lecturing and distribution of manifestoes. Girls more active. Strikes have occurred in enemy (Japanese)
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factories, stores, etc. Our churches, schools and 32,000 men and women are in prison. About 100.000 have been injured, including stores closed everywhere. old people, girls and children. Interior traffic communications severed. Terrible outrages committed by enemy (Japanese). Missionaries are sending truth to world." In a further despatch which reached the Korean Delegation on April 11 instant, Japanese atrocities are reported: "Japan has begun massacring in Korea. On March 28, over 1,000 unarmed people were killed during a three-hour demons- tration held in Seoul. The shooting, beating and hooking (? bayonetting) of people are in merciless progress throughout Korea. Churches, schools and homes of leaders have been destroyed. Women are being stripped naked and beaten before crowds. especially female members of leaders' families. The imprisoned are being tortured, Doctors are forbidden to attend to the wounded. Foreign Red Cross. We have decided to fight for freedom until last Korean falls. We ask urgently aid from We solicit help in the name of God.
Of the many news despatches on the subject appearing in the American and the European Press, it must suffice here to quote the latest from the Tokio correspondent of the London "Times". I appeared in the issue of the London paper on April 17 instant, under the caption "Korea's Rights". "While it is recognized that there can be only one outcome of the disturbances in Korea, the Government's decision to reinforce the military establishment in the peninsula evokes universal Press comment, the feature of which is the recognition that it will be inevitable, when opportunity occurs, to replace the Military Governor by a civilian Governor. The Nichi-Nichi' attributes the disturbances chiefly to a mistaken conception of the principle of self-determination, also to the inimical influence of missionaries. The 'Jiji says it is evident that many reforms are necessary in Korea, Another journal dwells on the fact that the Koreans are not an inferior people...'
ABROGATION OF THE TREATY OF ANNEXATION.
20.-The Korean People submit that the Treaty of Annexation of August 22, 1910, should be declared Nuil and Void or otherwise abrogated by the Peace Conference for the reasons set forth in this Petition and further elaborated in the Memorandum hereto attached and more especially for the reasons following:- I. The said Treaty of Annexation was concluded in circumstances of Fraud and Force which vitiated its validity as a legal and international document, even assuming that the then Emperor of Korea had the right to hand over to His Majesty the Emperor of Japan" Fifteen Million Koreans and a country that had existed as a separate and sovereign state for more than 4,200
years.
II. The Korean People and Nation have consistently denied the right of the then puppet" Emperor of Korea to deal with them in terms of the said Treaty of Annexation. Being men and not cattle they hold that their consent is and has been an essential condition to the validity of the said Treaty. This consent has never been given.
III.—The said Treaty of Annexation was and is a direct violation by Japan of the International guarantees entered into by the Japanese Government with Korea and other Powers regarding Korean independence and integrity
IV. In the several Treaties concluded between Korea and Japan and other Powers, and by Japan with China, with Russia and with Great Britain, regarding Korea, the existence of the latter as a separate and sovereign state is-as to all these Treaties-explicitly recognised and its political independence and territorial integrity
The Japan-Korean Treaty of February 26 or 27, 1876, states in the first article Chosen being an independent state enjoys the same sovereign rights as does Japan".
In the Japan-Russian Protocol of April 25, 1898, it is stipulated in Article I that the "Imperial Governments of Japan and Russia definitively recognise the sovereignty and entire independence of Korea, and mutually engage to refrain from all direct interference in the internal affairs of that county,"
The Japan-Korean Protocol of February 13, 1904, provides (art. 3) that the Government of Jupan definitively guarantees the independence and territorial integrity of the Korean Empire.
"Imperial
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