There began now a game of manœuvring and intrigue in which, for some years to come, the Japanese were to be at a large disadvantage. The King, who has always shown himself irrevocably committed to the peculiar methods of Korean politics, within two weeks of the day on which he had taken refuge in the Russian Legation, began secretly communicating with the Japanese Minister. The Russian Minister at that time, who has been pronounced “probably the most adroit representative of her interests whom Russia ever had in Korea,” proclaimed himself an unwilling victim of the King’s fear, which he regarded as hysterical, but could not, in common decency, fail to respect. The Japanese were in no position to resent the insult or to foreguard against the menace which all this involved. Not unnaturally, the Russian representative undertook promptly to avail his country of the especially favorable opportunity for promoting its interests in the Far East which was offered by the intimate relations of protection established over the Korean Government. For it should never be lost out of mind that until years after these events, whoever had dominating influence with the Korean monarch controlled, in largest measure, the Korean Government. M. Waeber, among other material benefits, secured valuable mining and timber concessions for his countrymen; it was also, probably, due to his influence that the Korean troops which had been trained by the Japanese, were disbanded. There then followed a radical change in the policy of Japan, which is described as follows by Hershey:[23] In the summer of 1896 Japan formally departed from her policy of the past two decades of upholding the independence and integrity of Korea by her own efforts, and sought the co-operation of Russia toward the same end. On May 14th, the Russian and Japanese Ministers at Seoul concluded a memorandum which fixed the number and disposition of Japanese troops in Korea. On June 9, 1896, the Yamagata-Lobanoff protocol was signed at St. Petersburg. It was thereby agreed: