Japan–Korea Agreement of August 1904

[2] This treaty required Korea to engage financial and diplomatic advisers designated by Japan.

[2] The treaty presumes that the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs ad interim of His Majesty the Emperor of Korea were respectively authorized and empowered to negotiate and to agree upon the specific language of the proposed bilateral treaty:[3] The Korean Government shall engage as financial adviser to the Korean Government a Japanese subject recommended by the Japanese Government, and all matters concerning finance shall be dealt with after his counsel has been taken.

[3] The Korean Government shall consult the Japanese Government previous to concluding Treaties or Conventions with foreign Powers, and in dealing with other important diplomatic affairs such as granting of concessions to or contracts with foreigners.

[3] An amplified explanation of the scope and purpose of Article III was mentioned in a 1904 letter from the Japanese Ambassador to the United States Takahira Kogorō to the American Secretary of State John Hay: This "alleged treaty" was contrived in a coercive process;[2] and Koreans sought to invalidate the unwanted consequences by presenting evidence to the international community.

[8] In 2010, Japan argued that the chronological point of reference for "already null and void" was August 15, 1948, when the government of the Republic of Korea was established.