Abstract

Key figures of the Amnokgang Forestry Company, executive director F. A. Lybov (Ф. А. Львов) and Russian minister to Korea N. G. Matyunin (Н. Г. Матюнин), provided explanations for the causes of the Russo-Japanese War. Lybov, the executive director of the Company, argued that the war resulted from two main factors. First, the Company shifted from a private-oriented policy to a state-centered approach. Second, the Company established the Yongampo branch during a period of heightened international attention. In contrast, Matyunin emphasized that the company functioned as a military defense shield, preventing Japanese attacks on the southern branch of Russia’s Chinese Eastern Railway. Matyunin argued that the Russian Finance Ministry, by pushing forward with the railway’s southward expansion, had provoked the war. Furthermore, he criticized the Russian Finance Ministry and Foreign Ministry for manipulating public opinion by blaming the Amnokgang Forestry Company for the conflict. Ultimately, the Russian government promoted the Amnokgang Forestry Company as a private enterprise, intending to establish the Amnok River as a military boundary with Japan. However, Japan interpreted the company’s activities as part of Russia’s broader ambitions to dominate Korea. Thus, the Russo-Japanese War stemmed from the conflict between Russia and Japan over the Korean Peninsula, with Japan using the Amnokgang Forestry Company as a pretext for war.