United States-Korean Treaty of 1882

an unequal friendship and trade treaty imposed by the USA on Korea. It was signed on May 22, 1882, in Inchon. It was the second unequal treaty, after the Japanese-Korean Treaty of 1876, that the capitalist states imposed on Korea in the last third of the 19th century. The ports of Pusan, Inchon, and Wonsan were opened to American trade, and the USA was given most-favored-nation rights. The treaty limited duties on American imports to 10 percent of the cost of the goods, provided for consular jurisdiction for US citizens, and granted to Americans the right to lease land in Korea, to build houses, and to establish enterprises in open ports. The treaty became inactive in 1905, after the establishment of the Japanese protectorate over Korea.