I read that Imperial Japan had the intention to buy the Philippines from Spain but was refused. Later, they took Korea to gain a foothold in the continent. Which colony would benefit them more in the long term? I believe they could only get one at first and spend a certain amount of time to quell the rebellion. In my opinion, getting Korea allows the Japanese to gain access to Chinese market while controlling the Philippines seems to lead them to a dead end, they couldn't really expand into French Indochina or Dutch East Indies.