Editing Korea (section)

===Korean Empire===
{{Main|Korean Empire}}
[[File:Flag of Korea 1882.svg|thumb|The earliest surviving depiction of the Korean flag was printed in a US Navy book ''Flags of Maritime Nations'' in July 1889.]]
Beginning in 1871, [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] began to exert more influence in Korea, forcing it out of China's traditional sphere of influence. As a result of the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] (1894–95), the [[Qing dynasty]] had to give up such a position according to Article 1 of the [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]], which was concluded between China and Japan in 1895. That same year, [[Empress Myeongseong]] of Korea was assassinated by Japanese agents.<ref name="autogenerated3">{{Citation|title=Japan rape |year=2002 |publisher=Kim soft |url=http://www.kimsoft.com/2002/jp-rape.htm |contribution=Murder of Empress Myeongseong |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041009171355/http://www.kimsoft.com/2002/jp-rape.htm |archive-date= 9 October 2004 }}</ref>

In 1897, the [[Joseon dynasty]] proclaimed the [[Korean Empire]] (1897–1910). [[Gojong of the Korean Empire|King Gojong]] became emperor. During this brief period, Korea had some success in modernising the military, economy, real property laws, education system, and various industries. [[Russian Empire|Russia]], Japan, [[French Third Republic|France]], and the United States all invested in the country and sought to influence it politically.

The Russians were pushed out of the fight for Korea following the conclusion of the [[Russo-Japanese War]] (1904–1905). Korea became a [[protectorate]] of Japan shortly afterwards. In [[Manchuria]] on 26 October 1909, [[An Jung-geun]] assassinated the former [[Governor-General of Korea|Resident-General of Korea]], [[Itō Hirobumi]], for his role in trying to force Korea into occupation.