with the Japanese guard, withdrew. This was the first point at which the two belligerents came in touch with each other.
It was on the night of the 23rd of February that Korea signed with Japan a protocol, by the terms of which Korea practically allied herself with Japan and became, as it were, a silent partner in the war. Korea granted the Japanese the right to use Korea as a road to Manchuria, and engaged to give them every possible facility for prosecuting the war. On the other hand, Japan guaranteed the independence of Korea and the safety of the imperial family. It is needless to discuss the degree of spontaneity with which Korea did this. It was a case of necessity, but if rightly used it might have proved of immense benefit to Korea, as it surely did to Japan. It formally did away with the empty husk of neutrality which had been proclaimed, and made every seaport of the peninsula belligerent territory, even as it did the land itself.
March saw the end of the Peddlers' Guild. They had been organised in Russian interests, but now they had no longer any raison d'etre. As a final flurry, one of their number entered the house of the Foreign Minister with the intent to murder him, but did not find his victim. Other similar attempts were made, but did not succeed.
The Japanese handled the situation in Seoul with great circumspection. The notion that they would attack the pro- Russian officials proved false. Everything was kept quiet, and the perturbation into which the court and the government were thrown by these startling events was soon soothed.
Marquis Ito was sent from Japan with a friendly message to the Emperor of Korea, and this did much to quiet the unsettled state of things in Korea. At about the same time the northern ports of Wiju and Yongampo were opened to foreign trade. This was a natural result of the withdrawal of Russian influence. It was not long before Yi Yong-ik, who had played such a leading role in Korea, was invited to go to Japan, and thus an element of unrest was removed from the field of action.
