Prior to the homecoming of the official travel group of Iwakura Mission including OKUBO, on the August 17, dispatch of SAIGO to the Korea as an ambassador plenipotentiary was once approved in a Cabinet meeting, but when the Emperor Meiji received a report of the proposal on the next day he rejected the SAIGO's dispatch plan based on the agreement that "won't decide important matters related to the country until the official travel group's homecoming", and asked them to wait for homecoming of Tomomi IWAKURA, and report it again after deep deliberation with IWAKURA (IWAKURA comes home on September 17).
大久保ら岩倉使節団の外遊組帰国以前の8月17日、一度は閣議で西郷を朝鮮へ全権大使として派遣することが決まったが、翌日この案を上奏された明治天皇は「外遊組帰国まで国家に関わる重要案件は決定しない」という取り決めを基に岩倉具視が帰国するまで待ち、岩倉と熟議した上で再度上奏するようにと、西郷派遣案を却下している（岩倉の帰国は9月17日）。