was an agreement signed between the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

on 25 April 1898 concerning disputes over

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

. With Japan's victory in the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the p ...

, and increasing influence in domestic Korean politics, tensions continued to rise between Japan and Russia over political and economic control of Korea. The Agreement was signed in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

by Japanese

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

Baron Nishi Tokujirō, and Russian Foreign Minister Baron Roman Romanovich Rosen. Under the terms of the Agreement, both nations agreed to refrain from interfering in domestic Korean politics, and to seek prior approval from each other before sending any military or financial advisors at the request of the Korean government. Russia pledged not to obstruct Japanese investment in the commercial and economic development of Korea, thus explicitly acknowledging Korea to be within Japan's

sphere of influence In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military or political exclusivity. While there may be a formal a ...

. In return, Japan implicitly recognized Russia's lease of territory on the

Liaodong Peninsula The Liaodong Peninsula (also Liaotung Peninsula, ) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located between the mouths of the Daliao River ...

References

* * * 1898 in Japan Japan–Russia treaties Treaties concluded in 1898 1898 in the Russian Empire Treaties of the Empire of Japan Treaties of the Russian Empire {{Russia-hist-stub

See also

References