Independent Korea?

What could have allowed for Korea to remain independent after 1910? It was annexed by Japan that year, leaving it to years of Japanese occupation and then a split still existent to this day. What could have prevented Japanese annexation of Korea, then? Would it take just a change of heart in their leadership or a drastic turn of events?
 
A foreign imperial power interested in a 'buffer state' maybe. So, maybe not totally free, but... damn protected, with autonomy.

Japan get in troubles with X.
 
A foreign imperial power interested in a 'buffer state' maybe. So, maybe not totally free, but... damn protected, with autonomy.

Japan get in troubles with X.

Hmm. Who would be that power? I don't think China was in any position to protect Korea, considering how Japan had just recently defeated them. Same with Russia, as they had just lost to the Japanese. Maybe... um... the Germans? Tsingtao was reasonably close to Korea, and perhaps they wouldn't want Japan to be closer to their colony and have additional strength from the Korean territory. That's all I can guess for now, but perhaps there could be another nation that could step in.
 
Japan fights Russia. Russia beats them on the ground and loses less drastically on the sea. Treaty: Russia stays in Manchuria, Japan kicked out of Korea. It would still try to meddle around there but total takeover would be preempted.
 
Ok, I forgot to ask: if, somehow, Korea were to remain independent, what would the effects be? How would an independent Korea survive, and how would it affect the Far East? The world?
 
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