대한제국과 중립법

Abstract

It is generally accepted that paramount importance should be thrown into the integrity of State’s territory embedded in the substantial body of international legal rules and principles. Viewed from the supremacy of state sovereignty, the integrity of State’s territory should not be infringed by other States without former State’s clear consent. Before the establishment of the UN system, the resort to use of force by States is not restrained by international law. However, the acts of hostilities between States should not be conducted without any restrictions. Put it differently, States engaged in armed conflicts with other States should not violate the neutrality of States which undertake the duty of neutral States during the war. Reducing the possibility of escalation of armed conflict and staying away from the impact of armed conflicts between States, the law of neutrality takes the integral part of rules and principles of the law of war. In this regard, the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War carried out in the territory of the Daehan Empire directly violated the Daehan Empire’s territorial integrity and witnessed the explicit violation of the law of neutrality by the Japanese armies. Although the Daehan Empire’s effort to turn the Daehan Empire into a permanent neutral State was not successful, the legal implication of the declaration of neutrality of the Daehan Empire should not be disregarded by the Japanese government. Appraising the Daehan Empire’s attempt to be a neutral State concerning the tension between Russia and Japan, many articles and books merely describe the Japanese government disregarded the effort of the Daehan Empire or the lack of recognition by other States for the Daehan Empire’s the declaration of the neutrality. This makes matters worse. Politically or historically, the term “disregard” or “unrecognized” might be used for evaluating the effort of the Daehan Empire. However, from the legal point of view, this kind of expression should not be maintained because the Japanese government invaded into the territory of the Daehan Empire. For this reason, a more cautious approach should be required when assessing the effort of the Daehan Empire to get the neutral statues with regard to the Russo-Japanese War.