Corean Pacific Islands

Corean Pacific Islands Territory
Today part of	Empire of Japan

The Corean Pacific Islands (대한태평양섬, Dêhan-têpjôngjang-sôm, before 1936 usually: 서광태평양섬, Sôgwang-têpjôngjang-sôm) were an insular dependent territory of the nation of Corea between 1888 and 1975, situated in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, southeast of Japan and east of Tauland. It encompassed the Bonin (Moein) Islands, Sulfur Islands and Namjo Island, all of which are presently administered by the Empire of Japan. Of these, only Gracht (Te-Moein) Island and Engel (Nam-Moein) Island were permanently populated by Corean settlers, while Gran Sufre (Te-Hwang) Island and Namjo Island housed perpetually staffed military installations.

Following their annexation from Spain during the early Gwang-an era, the islands were administered as the Crown Colony of the Moein Islands under direct rule of the Emperor, and were subject to directed settlement by Coreans, largely from Djedjoe island. Over the following decades, the strategically important islands were developed into military bases, with airstrips and refueling facilities constructed on Gracht, Gran Sufre and Namyo islands, and naval harbor installations built in Gracht Island's Sôman Bay.

Following Corea's defeat in the Russo-Corean War, during which the islands played a significant role as Corean and Dutch-Taulander naval and air bases, the 1936 Treaty of Hansjang placed the islands under Russian civil administration. In 1951, they returned to Corea and were reorganized as the Corean Pacific Islands Territory (대한태평양섬영토, Dêhan-têpjôngjang-sôm-jôngto), with Russian military presence on the islands continuing until 1974.

In 1975, Japan, which had laid claim to the islands during and after the Russo-Corean war, staged an invasion of the territory and captured it, with Corea being incapable of mounting a substantial defense in the wake of the Kemo nuclear disaster. Following the evacuation of the Japanese home islands after the Japanese Revolution, the islands, now generally known as Imperial Bonin, make up the entirety of the Empire of Japan's de facto territorial extent. Corea officially continues to claim the Pacific Islands as part of its territory, but the Corean state has not pursued any action to reoccupy them since the 1970s. In addition, they have been claimed by the Japanese National Republic since 1981.

History

Japanese annexation and rule (1975-)

Main article: Imperial Bonin