Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress December 5, 1899
Mr. Allen to Mr. Hay.
Seoul, Korea , December 12, 1899 .
Sir: I have the honor to hand you inclosed, a copy of a translation of the new treaty between Korea and China, which has been signed and now only awaits being exchanged.
* * * * * * *
I have, etc.,
treaty between korea and china.
His Majesty the Emperor of Korea and His Majesty the Emperor of China, being sincerely desirous of establishing permanent relations of harmony and friendship between their respective subjects, have resolved to conclude a treaty for that purpose, and have therefore named as their plenipotentiaries, that is to say:
- His Majesty the Emperor of Korea, Pak Chei Sun, Korean minister of foreign affairs, minister of the counil of state, etc., His Majesty’s minister plenipotentiary;
- His Majesty the Emperor of China, Hsi Shou Peng, an official of the second grade, director of the imperial stud, His Majesty’s minister plenipotentiary;
Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in due and good form, have agreed upon and concluded the following commercial treaty:
Article I.
There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between the Empire of Korea and the Empire of China, and between their respective subjects, who shall enjoy equally in the respective countries of the high contracting parties full protection and the advantages of favorable treatment.
If other powers should deal unjustly or oppressively with either Government, the other, on being informed of the case, will exert their good offices to bring about an amicable arrangement, thus showing their friendly feelings.
Article II.
After the conclusion of this treaty of amity and commerce, the high contracting powers may each appoint diplomatic representatives to reside at the court of the other, and may each appoint consular representatives at the ports of the other which are open to foreign commerce, at their own convenience.
These officials shall have relations with the corresponding local authorities of equal rank upon a basis of mutual equality.
The diplomatic and consular representatives of the two Governments shall enjoy mutually all the privileges, rights, and immunities, without discrimination, which are accorded to the same class of representatives from the most favored nation.
Consuls shall exercise their functions only on receipt of an exequatur from the Government to which they are accredited.
No restrictions or difficulties shall be imposed upon the movement of the members of the official establishments of either country or upon messengers carrying official dispatches.
Consular authorities shall be bona fide officials. No merchant shall be permitted to exercise the duties of the office, nor shall consular officers be allowed to engage in trade.
At ports to which no consular representatives have been appointed the consuls of the other powers may be invited to act, provided that no merchant shall be allowed to assume consular functions.
If the consular representatives of either country conduct their business in an improper manner, they shall be withdrawn on notice being giving to the diplomatic representatives of the country concerned.
Article III.
Merchants and merchant vessels of Korea visiting Chinese treaty ports for purpose of trade shall pay import and export duties and tonnage dues and all other charges according to the Chinese customs regulations and on the same terms as the similar duties levied on the subjects of the most favored nation.
Chinese merchants and merchant vessels visiting Korean treaty ports for purposes of trade shall pay import and export duties and tonnage dues and all other charges according to the Korean customs regulations and upon the same terms as the duties levied upon the subjects of the most favored nation.
The subjects of both powers shall be allowed to resort for purposes of trade to all the open ports in the dominion of the other.
Regulations for the conduct of trade and the customs tariff shall be those enjoyed by the most favored nation.
[Page 493]Article IV.
Subjects of Korea who may proceed to the Chinese open ports may reside and rent premises or lease land and erect warehouses as they please within the limits of the settlements. They shall be at liberty to traffic in all kinds of native produce, in all manufactured goods, and in all articles that are not declared contraband.
Subjects of China who may proceed to the Korean open ports may reside and rent premises or lease land and erect warehouses as they please within the limits of the settlements. They shall be at liberty to traffic in all kinds of native produce, in all manufactured goods, and in all articles that are not declared contraband.
All questions affecting the renting of land, the building of houses, the laying out of cemeteries, the payment of rent and taxes, and other matters of a similar nature at the treaty ports of either country are to be determined in accordance with the settlement and municipal council regulations of the ports, which must not be infringed.
If there is, in addition to a general foreign settlement at treaty port in either country, a settlement under the separate control of a foreign power, questions affecting the renting of land and similar matters shall be governed by the regulations of the settlement, which must not be infringed.
3. Chinese subjects shall enjoy all benefits and advantages granted to foreigners with reference to the leasing or purchase of land or houses beyond the limits of the foreign settlements at the treaty ports of Korea. But all lands so occupied shall be subject to such conditions as to the observances of Korean local regulations and payment of land tax as the Korean authorities may see fit to impose.
Korean subjects shall enjoy all benefits and advantages granted to foreigners with reference to the leasing or purchase of land or houses beyond the limits of the foreign settlements at the treaty ports of China. But all lands so occupied shall be subject to such conditions as to the observance of Chinese local regulations and the payment of land tax as the Chinese authorities may see fit to impose.
4. The subject of neither country shall be permitted to rent land or houses or open warehouses beyond the limits of the area open to foreign trade at the treaty ports of the high contracting parties. The penalty for a breach of this stipulation shall be the confiscation of the land and a fine of twice their original value.
5. No coercion or intimidation in the acquisition or lease of land shall be permitted and the land so occupied shall remain an integral part of the state.
6. If merchandise is sent by the subjects of one of the high contracting parties from one treaty port in the other country to another treaty port in the same country it shall be subject to the same dues and duties, prohibitions and regulations as obtain in the case of the subjects of the most favored nation.
Article V.
1. A Chinese subject who commits any offense in Korea shall be tried and punished by the Chinese consular authorities according to the laws of China.
A Korean subject who commits any offense in China shall be tried and punished by the Korean consular officials according to the laws of Korea.
A Chinese subject who commits any offense against the life or property of a Korean in China shall be tried and punished by the Chinese authorities according to the laws of China.
A Korean subject who commits any offense against the life or property of a Chinese in Korea shall be tried and punished by the Korean authorities according to the laws of Korea.
When controversies arise between the subjects of the two countries they shall be decided by the proper official of nationality of the defendant according to the laws of that country.
The properly authorized official of the plaintiff’s nationality shall be permitted to attend the trial and watch the proceedings, and shall be treated with the courtesy due to his position. If he so desires, he shall have the right to call and examine witnesses, and if he is dissatisfied with the proceedings he shall be permitted to protest against them in detail.
2. If a subject of one of the high contracting parties who has committed an offense against the laws of his country takes refuge on the premises or on board a ship owned by a subject of the other the local officials, after having notified the consular authorities, shall send police to assist in having the offender arrested and brought to justice. The authorities of the nationality of the offender shall try the case. No protection or concealment of any such person shall be permitted.
[Page 494]3. If a subject of one of the high contracting parties who has committed an offense against the laws of his country takes refuge in the dominions of the other the authorities of the latter country, on receíving an application, shall discover and hand over such person to his country for trial. No concealment or protection of any such person shall be permitted.
4. When in the subject of either of the high contracting parties the laws and legal procedure of the other shall have been so far modified and reformed as to remove the present existing objections, the right of extra territorial jurisdictions shall be relinquished.
Article VI.
In China the export of rice and grain to foreign countries has always been prohibited. There is no prohibition of this kind in Korea, but it is agreed that whenever there is reason to apprehend a scarcity of food within the limits of the Empire a prohibition against the export of rice and grain may be enforced, and shall be binding upon Chinese subjects when it shall have been officially communicated by the Korean local authorities to the Chinese authorities concerned.
Article VII.
If the subjects of either of the high contracting parties in their commercial dealings with each other are guilty of fraud or make fictitious sales, or do not pay their debts, the authorities of both powers shall use stringent measures to arrest the offenders and obtain payment of the debts.
The Government of the high contracting powers shall not be responsible for debts of this nature.
Article VIII.
Chinese subjects shall have the right to travel under passports in the interior of Korea for purposes of pleasure or trade. They are, however, forbidden to reside or to open establishments for trade there. The penalties for a breach of this stipulation are the confiscation of the goods and a fine of twice their original value.
Korean subjects shall have the right to travel under passports in the interior of China for purposes of pleasure or trade, and shall receive most favored nation treatment in this respect.
Article IX.
The purchase of arms, munitions, and implements of war, as ordnance or cannon, shot and shell, firearms of all kinds, cartridges, sidearms, spears or pikes, saltpeter, gunpowder, gun cotton, dynamite, and other explosive substances is permitted only to the officials of the two contracting powers, and they may be imported by the subjects of either only under a written permit issued by the officials of the country into which they are imported.
If these articles are clandestinely imported or sold they shall be confiscated and the offending party fined twice their original value.
The import of opium into Korea is prohibited, and if either foreign or Chinese grown opium is imported by Chinese subjects it shall be confiscated and the offending party fined twice its original value.
The export of red ginseng from Korea has always been prohibited. If Chinese subjects clandestinely buy and export it without the special permission of the Korean Government, it shall be seized and confiscated and the offenders punished as circumstances may require.
Article X.
Whenever vessels of either of the two contracting states are detained on the coast of other through stress of weather or want of fuel or provisions they may enter any port or harbor either to take refuge therein or to get supplies, or to make repair; the expenses incurred thereby being defrayed by the ships master. In such event the officers and people of the locality shall render all the assistance in their power and furnish the necessaries required.
If a vessel trades clandestinely at a port not open to commerce, or at any place where she is forbidden to proceed, the vessel, with her cargo, whether any trade has actually taken place or not, shall be seized and confiscated by the local [Page 495] authorities and the nearest customs officials, and the offenders shall incur a fine of twice their original value.
Should a vessel of either power be wrecked on the coast of the other, the local authorities, on being informed of the occurrence, shall immediately render assistance to the crew, provide for their immediate necessities, and take requisite measures for the salvage of the ship and the preservation of her cargo. They shall also bring the matter to the knowledge of the nearest consular representative, in order that steps may be taken to send the crew home and to save the ship and her cargo. The necessary expenses shall be defrayed either by the ship’s master or by the authorities of the nationality of the vessel concerned.
Article XI.
The officers and people of either power residing at trading places in the dominions of the other shall have the right to employ natives in any lawful capacity.
Article XII.
After the present treaty has been concluded, a tariff and rules shall be drawn up to regulate the frontier trade which has hitherto been carried on between the two Empires. All persons who have already crossed the frontier and reclaimed ground shall be allowed to pursue their avocations in peace and enjoy protection for their lives and property.
From this time forward migration across the frontier shall be prohibited on both sides in order to avoid complications.
The question of the determination of the site of a trade mart is reserved for discussion and settlement when the frontier rules come to be drawn up.
Article XIII.
The ships of war of each country shall be at liberty to visit all the ports of the other whether open to foreign trade or not.
They shall not be permitted to clandestinely import merchandise.
Supplies of all kinds for ships of war of either country shall not be liable to the payment of duties.
Officers and men of the ships of war of either country may land anywhere in the territories of the other, but shall not proceed into the interior unless they are provided with passports.
If articles used on board ship are for any reason sold, the purchaser shall pay the proper duty.
Article XIV.
The present treaty shall be ratified by His Majesty the Emperor of Korea and His Majesty the Emperor of China under their hands and seals, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Seoul within one year at the latest from the date of signature, and immediately thereafter this treaty shall be in all its provisions publicly proclaimed and made known by both Governments in their respective countries, in order that it may be obeyed by their subjects, respectively.
Article XV.
The Chinese written character being common to both Korea and China, this treaty and future official correspondence shall be made in Chinese for the sake of clearness.
Hsü Shou Peng.
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 2 00 Rank. Director of the Imperial Stud. For His Majesty the Emperor of China, 7th day, 8th moon, 25th year of Kuang, Su.
Pak Chai Soon,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Councillor of State. 11th September, 1899. 3d year of Kwang Mu.