Reddit reviews Everlasting Flower: A History of Korea
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Among other reasons, during the late 1800's Japan and China began competing fiercely for influence over Korea. There were pro-Japanese coups which were overturned by Chinese troops.
A rebellion in Korea in 1894 provided Japan and China with the excuse to send troops to Korea.
On July 25, 1894 Japanese ships attacked and sunk Chinese troop transports heading to Korea. The first Sino-Japanese war was brief and was a total humiliating defeat for the Chinese. As you can imagine, this did not endue them to the Japanese.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Sino-Japanese_War
For their part the Japanese were thoroughly interested in modernizing and copying the success of the West Which put them at odds with conservative, anti-western factions (to simplify) in China and Korea.
It also meant that they viewed imperial conquest as a legitimate tool of foreign policy. Imperial conquest was very much in vogue then and just as the Europeans claimed to be acting in the best interests of the Africans the Japanese claimed to be acting in the best interests of the Koreans and Chinese.
The Europeans and Americans agreed and generally viewed Japan's rise to power favorably, (failing to condemn even the 1931 invasion of Manchuria) many other people in Asia did not.
Source: [Everlasting Flower: A History of Korea] (http://www.amazon.com/Everlasting-Flower-A-History-Korea/dp/1861893353)