why did Japan want Korea?

Answer 1

It is very simple. Japan was planning to take over Asia. An amphibious assault on China would have been suicide. But Korea was weak and very close to Japan. By taking Korea over first Japan had a land route into China. That is the only way they were able to start Manchuquo.

And all because that jerk Tom Cruise taught the Japanese how to shoot rifles!!!

Answer 2

Japan was expansionist, but the reason I was given while I was in Korea (this was a new one for me) was that Japan saw Korea as a "geographic threat" - that if a power in Asia (Korean or not) were to try to attack the island nation of Japan, the Korean peninsula reached out from Asia like an arm that would try to grab Japan. It didn't seem to matter that the Koreans had given no sign of designs on Japan, but Japan militarized and decided to take control of the peninsula, and then some.

Plus, the bigger your empire gets, the more resources it has, etc... becoming ever more likely to snowball into a superpower.

Answer 3

Russia was trying to get their army down to the north-east part of China (east part around Liaodong peninsula) , and then to Korean peninsula, in the later half of 1800's.
Yi Joseon (Joseon dynasty) of Korean was tributary state of China at that time.
Japan wanted Korea to be an independent nation. Because Qing dynasty of China was in chaos cos it was about to be divided by Russia, France, England and Germany.
But the Yi Joseon continued to take "Serving the Great" attitude (called "Sadae" in their language) toward China.

So Japan fought with Qing and won the war, and made the Korea an independent nation.
Read the treaty. Japan let China admit that Korea's independence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Shimonoseki
>"Article 1: China recognizes definitively the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea, and, in consequence, the payment of tribute and the performance of ceremonies and formalities by Korea to China; in derogation of such, independence and autonomy shall wholly cease for the future. "

But Gojong. the King of Korea then, was two-faced for both Japan and Russia. He couldn't rely on China (It was the end stage of Qing dynasty, China) and started "Serving the Great" attitude to Russia. Then he moved his living quarter in the Russian consulate in 1896 (was expecting Russia to protect him). Gojong was selling any kind of right and interest of Korea, like railways, fishery rights, mining rights, etc, to Russia and he continued to spend the money for himself.
Japan thought if Russia seized whole Korean peninsula, it would be national crisis (Korean and Japan is 38 miles distance only).

In 1904, Japan and Russia broke the diplomatic ties and fought Russo-Japan war, and Japan won it.
Japan didn't believe in Gojong anymore and annexed the territory, referring the unity between England and Scotland.

Actually Japan didn't assume Korea as a colony (like the India of western countries), but a part of Japan. And advanced its economy, modernization and currency unification.
http://www.geocities.com/kjpeninsula/

Answer 4

because japan had a big crush on korea for so long but it was never to be...ohhh the countries

Answer 5

Expansion

Answer 6

of course for expansion and maybe closer to china.