Creating Legitimacy through Media Discourse: German Press Reporting on the Japanese Colonisation of Korea, 1905–1910

Abstract

The annexation treaties between Korea and Japan remain controversial, as does the question of their legality. In contrast to the Koreans, who indicated the treaties were concluded under duress, the Japanese focused on seeking international approval. By analysing the German news reports on the Japanese annexation of Korea published between 1905 and 1945, this article examines whether Germans believed the Japanese colonisation of Korea conformed to international law and custom. This article demonstrates two main findings. First, the Japanese government attempted to produce international approval by directly intervening in the production of news articles. The Japanese government made particular newspapers and journalists act as their agents and almost completely suppressed reports on events such as the signing of the annexation treaty of 1910. Despite these efforts, the flourishing world of German journalism was too diverse to accept Japanese intervention passively. This article also shows that the international community did not perceive the annexation treaties as of legal. The annexation treaties were interpreted simply as the continued process of colonisation and only pro-Japanese newspapers showed interest in the legality of the annexation treaties. Considering these realities of the German media landscape, we should be careful in discussing the international approval of the annexation treaties as a fact.