examination, to be of a grave nature. Article VIII. When a Japanese vessel, or the crew thereof, infringes the stipulations of the present Agreement or of other treaties, or when a member of the crew commits any crime, the Japanese Consular Officers shall deal with the case in accordance with the provisions of the treaties and the laws of Japan. Article. IX. The present Agreement shall remain in force for a period of fifteen years from the date of its signature, and after the expiration of such period, further arrangements may be made by mutual agreement. Hayashi Gonsuke, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (dated, the 13th day of the 8th month of the 38th year of Meiji) Yi Ha-yeong, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (dated, the 13th day of the 8th month of the 9th year of Gwangmu) Recision This "alleged treaty" was contrived in a coercive process; and Koreans sought to invalidate the unwanted consequences by presenting evidence to the international community. For example, 1905: Emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire wrote personally to the heads of state in those countries having treaties with Korea; and the Korean government filed formal appeals and sent formal cable notices, but these diplomatic gestures were unavailing. 1907: In what is sometimes called the "Hague Secret Emissary Affair," Korean emissaries sought unsuccessfully to seek international assistance at the Hague Convention of 1907 at The Hague, Netherlands in 1907. 1921: Korean representatives attempted to gain a hearing at the Washington Naval Conference of 1921; but the effort was ineffective. This treaty was confirmed to be "already null and void" by Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea concluded in 1965. In 2010, Japan argued that the chronological point of reference for "already null and void" was August 15, 1948, when the government of the Republic of Korea was established. This point of view is disputed by the Korean analysis, which construes the 1965 treaty as acknowledgment of the nullification of all Japanese-Korean treaties and agreements from 1904 onwards. See also Unequal treaty Japan–Korea Treaty of 1904 Japan–Korea Agreement of August 1904 Japan–Korea Agreement of April 1905 Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 References General Eckert, Carter J., Ki-baik Lee, Young Ick Lew, Michael Robinson, and Edward W. Wagner. (1990). Korea Old and New: A History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 23071907 Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of