BRITAIN HAD EXCERCISED extraterritorial rights in Japan since 1859 when the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Commerce signed at Yedo in 1858 between Britain and Japan (Treaty of Yedo) came into force. While aware of Korea, Britain made no attempt to establish links or trade with Korea until the 1880s although several members of the consular service in both Japan and China had visited Korea in the late 1870s and early 1880s.

For much of its recent history Korea had been a tributary state of the Chinese Empire. However, after the Meiji Restoration in Japan in 1868, Japan began to cast its eyes westwards towards Korea and, on 26 February 1876, entered into The Treaty of Amity and Friendship with Korea (Treaty of Ganghwa). This was part of Japan's move to establish parity with the Western nations. The Treaty of Ganghwa provided for Japan to establish a commercial base at Sorio in Busan, where it had had historic trading rights, and for Korea to open two other ports for foreign trade. The treaty also provided for Japanese extraterritorial rights in Korea; but no reciprocal rights were extended to Koreans in Japan.

A supplementary treaty, entered into on 24 August 1876, provided: