After opening the Korean door, Japan began to secure Japanese national interest. It aimed to expand to North continent via Korean peninsula to complement Japan as an island nation. In this process, Japan presented ‘Asian Solidarity’concept. It meant Asia by Asians against imperialist Western penetration. Asian states`solidarity to keep independence and sovereignty was emphasized. Even though it was an international political rhetoric to complement Japanese power against Western powers, Koreans accepted it and believed that Korean independence could be kept by Asian solidarity with Japanese support. Koreans recognized national sovereignty encountered with Western powers and began to distance itself from China. However, Koreans did not recognize national sovereignty and power in relative relationship to other powers as Japan did. The stark differences between Korean and Japanese recognition of national sovereignty resulted in the two nations being a colonial state and an imperial state, respectively. Therefore, Koreans had to take first national independence recognizing the very meaning of national sovereignty against imperial annexation.