Joong-gun
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.
While he was in San Francisco, Stevens was assassinated by two outraged Korean patriots. Many other political leaders were assassinated during this violent time, including Yi Wan-Yong, the man lto had appointed as the premier of Korea after he had forced the Korean emperor to install a new pro-Japanese cabinet.