withdraw its forces from there back into Korea within two months of the date of the agreement. In return, China conceded exclusive railroad rights in Manchuria to Japan, among other things. The convention also contained provisions for the protection and rights of ethnic Koreans under Chinese rule. Korean claims The Korean claim is partly based on what is perceived (on the Korean side) to be an ambiguity in the 1712 boundary agreement between the Qing Dynasty (which ruled China at the time) and the Joseon Dynasty (which ruled Korea at the time); that actually did not become an issue again until about 150 years after the agreement was approved by both parties, when Manchuria and Gando was opened to Han Chinese migration by the Qing. The other major part of the claim relies on the fact that by the time the Gando Convention was signed in 1909, the Korean Empire was not consulted and had no way of disputing the legitimacy of the treaty, as it was already a protectorate of the Japanese Empire and was essentially prevented from resolving or renegotiating the boundary dispute as an independent state. The Gando Convention, like other unequal treaties (such as the Eulsa Treaty and the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910) dealing with Korean territory/governance or claims made by Imperial Japan, should thus be revoked and the boundary dispute rectified between Korea (though there is no stated consensus on which of the two current Koreas should be party to this) and the People's Republic of China. In the modern era When the Japanese occupation of Korea ended in August 1945, the Soviet administration in the north of Korea and the American administration in the south of Korea hampered any unified Korean attempt to recover Gando. However, Gando Convention was de jure nullified and North Korea started to control the area south of Paektu Mountain. In 1961, PR China claimed a boundary dozens of kilometers south of Mt. Paekdu. North Korea protested by publishing a national map with the claim on Gando included. However, the North Korean claim on Gando and the Chinese claim on the area south of Gando Convention line were not serious. Seriously disputed area was the area between Gando Convention line and Paektu Mountain. In 1963, North Korea signed a boundary treaty with the People's Republic of China, which settled the boundary between the two at the Yalu/Amnok (Chinese/Korean names) and