An Jung-geun
Itō argued that if East Asians did not cooperate closely with each other, Japan, Korea and China would all fall victim to Western imperialism. Initially, Gojong and the Joseon government shared this belief and agreed to collaborate with the Japanese military. Korean intellectuals had predicted that the victor of the Russo-Japanese War would assume hegemony over their peninsula, and as an Asian power, Japan enjoyed greater public support in Korea than did Russia. However, policies such as land confiscation and the drafting of forced labor turned popular opinion against the Japanese, a trend exacerbated by the arrest or execution of those who resisted. Ironically, An Jung-geun was also a proponent of what was later called Pan-Asianism. He believed in a union of the three East Asian nations in order to repel the "White Peril" of Western imperialism and restore peace in the region.