The foundation of the Imperial Korean Army started when Inoue Kaoru argued that the King should modernize the military and the commanding system in 1895.

However, the Siwidae was disbanded in August of that year for failing to stop the Japanese from assassinating Empress Myeongseong.

[1] Following Min Young-hwan's journey to Russia, he brought 14 Russian military instructors led by Dmitry Putyata in October 1896.

[2] After proclaiming the empire, Gojong consolidated his absolute control over military by the establishment of Board of Marshals.

By the time Gojong established the Board of Marshals, military of Korean Empire was fragmented.

He thought that such fragmentation of military would be an impediment when coping the imminent crisis caused by the conflict of Russia and Japan.

Starting from August 1899, the Imperial government recognized the need to expand Siwidae even further so that the Siwi regiment would be a proper combat unit.

[4] At the dawn of the Russo-Japanese War, Japanese forcefully signed the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1904 and made supply in Korea much easier.

They not only stationed Japanese Korean Army in Yongsan, but also established a military base in Dokdo.

[9] By Gojong's intention to enhance the authority of the emperor, he commissioned himself as the Grand Field Marshal and became the supreme commander of army and navy in June 1898.

Next year, Gojong established Board of Marshals in his palace, while weakening the authority of the Ministry of Military.

[14] Then on 22 June 1899, the academy became subordinated to the Board of Marshals as an effort of Gojong solidifying the military of Korea.

Despite not every cadet was motivated by their nationalist sentiment, many graduates of the academy joined the Righteous army, and opposed Japanese colonization.

The provincial armies (Jibangdae, (지방대), (地方隊)) and the garrison guards (Jinwidae, (진위대), (鎭衛隊)) defend the borders.

[7] But after the reform, the Ministers of the Palace, Military, Finance, and Education concurrently holds the position of commander of the Attendant Guard.

[21][22] On April 22, Gojong reorganized two battalions into one regiment divided by ten companies which followed the Russian military system.

It consisted of some units of the Attendant Guard[19] with one battalion of 1,000 men divided by five companies as its organization method and recruited Russian officers to train them.

[18] They also served as a transitional military unit to reorganize outdated soldiers into the first modern provincial army, the Garrison Guard.

On June 30, 1900, King Gojong ordered the Board of Marshals to incorporate some provincial battalions into the Garrison Guard.

The Garrison Guard forces grew significantly to prevent foreign interference and stabilize the regime.

In July 1900, the army established 18 battalions into six Garrison Guard regiments with headquarters in Ganghwa, Suwon, Daegu, Pyongyang, Bukcheong, Uiju, and Jeju.

[7] According to the Geunsejoseonjeonggam, the Late Joseon Dynasty, both the government and private entities owned a total of 143 steamships.

In Namdaemun, Major Park Seung-hwan committed suicide out of guilt for not protecting the country.

Emperor Sunjong's incorporated the remaining soldiers into the Imperial Retinue Guard, which continued even after the annexation in 1910.

[34] After signing the Treaty of Ganghwa, Japan, Qing, the United States, and the European nations started importing modern weapons such as rifles, artillery, and machine guns in 1883 until its annexation in 1910.