The long-term occupation of Korea also involved the complex takeover of the Korean government. One of Japan's leading elder statesmen of the time, Hirobumi Ito, became involved in masterminding a plan to complete the occupation and political takeover of Korea. He was named the first Japanese resident general of Korea in 1905. He was answerable only to the Japanese emperor and had the power to control all the Korean foreign relations and trade. To fulfill his duties and to keep order in the country, he was given total access to all Japanese combat troops stationed in Korea.

While still in Japan, Ito pressured the weak Korean government into signing the "Protectorate Treat" on November 19, 1905, which gave the Japanese the right to occupy Korea. After signing the treaty as resident general, Ito made every effort to keep it a secret from the Korean people. Following the ratification of the treaty, twelve Japanese commissioners were assigned to the various provinces in Korea, with one being stationed in Seoul. Later, in March 1906, Ito arrived in Korea to take the reins of power. At this time, he ordered all foreign delegations in Korea to withdraw, leaving Korea at the mercy of the Japanese. The new Japanese puppet government enacted laws that allowed Korean land to be sold to Japanese, although land generally was just taken.

The Korean people were extremely irritated under these grim circumstances. Word soon leaked out concerning the Protectorate Treaty, provoking a wave of anti-Japanese violence. Several small guerilla groups were formed and they attacked the Japanese occupation forces. One such group in Chung Chong Province armed themselves with 50 cannons and conducted a long campaign of hit-and-run actions against the Japanese. They were finally defeated, however, as most other groups were when hunted down by the much larger Japanese army. The general wave of unrest continued to spread very rapidly. Violence pervaded the general population, as many loyal Korean government officials committed suicide and Korean government officials who had signed the Protectorate Treaty were assassinated.

In the face of the oppression that accompanied this Japanese annexation of Korea An Joong-Gun went into self-exile in southern Manchuria. There he formed a small private guerilla army of approximately 300 men, including his brother. This army conducted sporadic raids across the Manchurian border into northern Korea, keeping a relentless pressure on the Japanese in this region.

The violent objection of the Korean population spread out of the country as well as into the upper levels of the Korean government. The Japanese government was unnerved by the vocal, patriotic Korean organizations, particularly those that had formed within the United States. Those in power wanted to quell these anti Japanese sentiments to avoid having other countries interfere with their control of Korea. With this in mind, in March 1907, the Japanese government sent an American citizen, D. W. Stevens, to the United States on a mission to distribute pro-Japanese propaganda to the American public. Stevens had originally been hired by the Japanese to help set up the resident general's government in Korea.

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