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Why did Kido Takayoshi oppose an invasion of Korea?

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Bronze statue of samurai Saigo Takamori standing with his dog on a stone pedestal in Ueno Park, Tokyo, with yellow autumn trees in the background. — Saigō Takamori Saigo Takamori, statue in Tokyo.

Kido Takayoshi’s opposition to an invasion of Korea was rooted in his commitment to the internal modernization and stabilization of Japan following the Meiji Restoration.1

After participating in the Iwakura Mission, an extensive fact-finding tour of Europe and the United States in 1871, Kido and other leaders became convinced that Japan’s survival depended on achieving military and material equality with the West. They adopted the slogan "Fukoku kyōhei" ("Rich country, strong army"), prioritizing domestic reforms—such as constitutionalism and industrialization—over foreign military expansion. Kido believed that focusing resources on these internal developments was essential to revise the unequal treaties imposed by Western powers. Consequently, upon his return from abroad, he successfully blocked the proposed invasion of Korea to prevent the young government from being diverted from its critical modernization agenda.12