The "Unyo-maru" Incident tells its illegality.

In September 1875, Japanese appeared in the sea off Kanghwa Island aboard a vessel, "Unyo-maru," to assault a battery on the island and then invaded Jongsan and Yongjong islands to set fire to the villages and rob houses of their properties.

Their infringement upon the sovereignty of the Korean nation was faced with due punishment by a Korean garrison.

Such being the case, the Japanese pirates, accusing the Korean side of "hostility," threatened by arms the Korean feudal rulers to compensate for the damage of the vessel and, moreover, accept the "Kanghwa Island Treaty" in February 1876.

The twelve-point treaty, the keynote of which is calling on the Korean side to open harbors for Japan and allow it to make a measurement of seas around Korea and a sea chart, has nothing to do with the will and interest of the Korean nation as it is aimed at political, economic and military occupation of Korea.

Availing themselves of the treaty, the Japanese imperialists began to thrust their aggressive claws deep into Korea. Finally they fabricated the Ulsa (1905) Five-point Treaty to totally occupy Korea and started a cruel colonial rule to subject the Korean nation to immeasurable sufferings and mishaps.

Nevertheless, Japan has the hardihood to talk about the "legality" of the "Kanghwa Island Treaty", alleging that it cast a beam of opening to a corner of closed Korea.

The allegation is nothing but a vicious distortion of history for embellishing and justifying its aggression on Korea.

With no amount of sophism can Japan veil the illegal and unreasonable nature of the gangster-like treaty.