The Katsura-Taft agreement and its enduring lessons

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Roh Jung-tae

The author is a writer and a senior fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.

In 1905, a covert understanding between Japan and the United States helped reshape the geopolitical fate of East Asia. Known as the Katsura-Taft Agreement, it underscored the vulnerability of the Korean Empire amid shifting power dynamics and highlighted the strategic priorities of emerging imperial powers.

Katsura Taro, then Japan’s prime minister, was a former military officer from the Choshu domain who played a key role in the Meiji Restoration and led Japan to victory in the Russo-Japanese War. William Howard Taft, at the time the U.S. Secretary of War under President Theodore Roosevelt, had previously served as governor of the newly annexed U.S. colony of the Philippines. He would go on to become the 27th president of the United States in 1909.

The two men met in Tokyo on July 27, 1905. Their conversations were summarized in a memorandum dated July 29, now commonly referred to as the Katsura-Taft Agreement. While the document was never formally ratified as a treaty, its contents revealed mutual understanding on key imperial interests.

The memorandum centered on three main points. First, Japan would recognize U.S. control over the Philippines. Second, the United States and Britain would maintain amicable relations with Japan. Third — and most consequential for Korea — Taft acknowledged Japan’s claim to exercise control over Korea’s foreign affairs.

Though Taft reportedly said he could not formally guarantee such an endorsement, he nevertheless expressed that it was reasonable for Japan, the victor of the Russo-Japanese War, to secure influence over Korea. He added that President Roosevelt would likely agree with his assessment.

Japanese historians often view the memorandum as an informal agreement, while U.S. scholars tend to downplay it as a side conversation. Regardless of interpretation, the outcome was clear: Korea was left isolated and powerless, caught between imperial ambitions and lacking allies.

At the time, the Korean Empire lacked both military strength and diplomatic foresight. Unable to deter Japan alone, it sought help from Qing China and later Russia, entangling its people in repeated turmoil. Hopes for U.S. support proved futile, as U.S. interests lay elsewhere.

One hundred and twenty years later, Korea has become one of the world’s top 10 economies and a military power in its own right. Yet, in today’s more complex global landscape, the question remains: Is Korea equipped with the strategic thinking needed to ensure its continued survival and prosperity?

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.