Japanese Dependency of Chosen, 1910

On 22 August 1910 the Korean Empire was abolished and annexed by Japan with the forced Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, beginning a 35-year period of Japanese colonial rule as the Dependency of Chosen (=Joseon). During this time the “Hinomaru” (Circle of the Sun), the Japanese National Flag, was the only legal flag in Korea, until 1945. The flag had been adopted as the National flag of Japan in 1870 during the Meiji period.