27 AUGUST 1910, Page 1

The old Korean Government was grotesquely incompetent and corrupt, and

every one knows that the Japanese Pro- tectorate has meant much more efficient rule, which it is to be hoped will develop yet more efficiency as well as broad- mindedness and humanity. Not all the dealings of Japan *with Korea are to her credit, but it cannot be demonstrated that this was actually the fault of the Japanese Government. Korea is so near to Japan that the obnoxious fringe of the Japanese commercial community made Korea their peculiar prey. The more real the hold of Japan upon Korea, however, the more firm should be her touch in dealing with her own people. It is useless now to regret that another country has formally lost her independence. The step, as we have said, was inevitable, and it remains only to hope that the Koreans will be happier than they were under the old Government (which was infinitely worse than they deserved), and that there will be no cause for complaint as to the trading rights of the world with Korea. We notice that British imports into Korea represent an annual value of three-quarters of a million. This amount is next in importance to that of Japanese imports, which represent two and khalf millions.