 Korea was again reduced to a tributary state of China with King Gojong unable to appoint diplomats without Chinese approval and troops stationed in Seoul in order to protect Chinese interests in the country.The Chinese government began to turn its former tributary state into a semi-colony and its policy toward Korea substantially changed to a new imperialistic one where the suzerain state demanded certain privileges in her vassal state.In October 1882, the two countries signed a treaty stipulating that Korea was a dependency of China and granted Chinese merchants the right to conduct overland and maritime business freely within Korean borders.