Seikanron The Seikanron ( Japanese : 征韓論 ; ; literally " Advocacy of a punitive expedition to Korea " ) debate was a major political conflagration which occurred in Japan in 1873 . History . Saigō Takamori and his supporters insisted that Japan confront Korea due to the latter ' s refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Emperor Meiji as head of state of the Empire of Japan , and insulting treatment meted out to Japanese envoys attempting to establish trade and diplomatic relations . The war - party also saw the issue in Korea to be an ideal opportunity to find meaningful employment for the thousands of out - of - work " samurai " , who had lost most of their income and social standing in the new Meiji social and economic order . These samurai posed a threat to the government , and ( as a " samurai " himself ) Saigō sympathized with their situation . According to orthodoxy , " Saigo himself volunteered to go to Korea as a special envoy , inviting an assassination attempt that would provide justification , if any were needed , for a punitive expedition . " However Saigo ' s statement was an attempt to win over the support of Itagaki Taisuke . Additionally , while the expedition to Korea was aimed at providing income for unemployed samurai , Saigo did not object to the Inoue - Yoshida plan , which abolished samurai stipends . Thus Saigo ' s condemnation of Meiji ' s provocation against Korea in 1876 suggests that Saigo had always been to " establish a firm relationship . " In any case the other Japanese leaders strongly opposed these plans , partly from budgetary considerations , and partly from realization of the weakness of Japan compared with the Western countries from what they had witnessed during the Iwakura Mission . While orthodox historians view the dispute as a matter of whether or not to invade Korea , the provocation against Korea in 1876 supports the claim that the Iwakura party never disagreed on the validity on an attack . Revisionists see the Seikanron as not a dispute of whether to invade , but instead " when " and " who " to do it . The former because those returning from the Iwakura Mission believed that Japan was too weak to attract international attention and needed to focus on internal reforms , the latter because the separation of the government between the caretaker government and the Iwakura groups allowed power - struggle between them . ( Okubo , for example , had no real position of power at that time , seeing as his position was taken up after his departure ) . The arguments against invading Korea were outlined in Okubo Toshimichi ' s " 7 Points Document " , dated October 1873 , in which he argued that action against Korea was premature because Japan was in the stages of modernizing and an invasion would be far too costly for Japan to sustain . Okubo ' s views were supported by the anti - war faction which mostly consisted of those returning from the Iwakura Mission . Iwakura had the emperor reverse the decision to send Saigo as an envoy to Korea , thus putting an end to the debate . As it was decided that no action was to be taken against Korea , many of the War Party , including Saigō and Itagaki , resigned from their government positions in protest . Saigō returned to his hometown of Kagoshima , although he was never officially resigned from his role in the palace guard . Some historians ( mainly orthodox ) suggests that this political split paved the way for the 1874 Saga rebellion and the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion . Itagaki , on the other hand , became involved with the Aikoku Kōtō , a liberal political party , and rebelled against the Iwakura clique through legal means .