Talk:Korea (Russian America)

Imperial Restoration
Recent view regarding the Korean royal family is mostly neutral, since the Koreans have perceived their monarchs, no matter important Emperor Gojong as a patriotic symbol, are mostly collaborators during the Japanese occupation. Even further, during the 1920s, the Yi Dynasty was considered backward and reactionary even by more moderate nationalists. The moderate nationalists who employed cultural strategies rather armed ones or sabotages a la the Shanghai Provisional Government, at least viewed the Japanese as their models, a very example of forward-looking Oriental nation.

Those cultural nationalists, such as Choe Nam-seon (who even participated in the 1919 Korean Independence Declaration) and Yun Chi-ho (real-life author of the South Korean national anthem, Aegukga), supported the Japanese war efforts during the Sino-Japanese War and World War II. They believed the Japanese Empire as a manifestation of modernity and should be looked upon to, although with reserves, as the model for the progress and reforms of Korean society. China is already their past, but Japan still become their future.

If cultural nationalism became the mainstream of Korean nationalist movement, I doubt they ever want a family associated with backwardness and isolation to be restored as the rulers of their nation. Not even liberals and socialists. Rhee Syngman, the leading leader of Korean liberal-conservatives, claimed himself as a descendant of royal Yi family, but even he was a republican and viewed the monarchists suspiciously. Maybe a republican form of government or a Japanese Emperor as a Korean monarch, mirroring the Canadian or Australian monarchies, were more viable options for the Koreans at your timeline.

Greetings,

FirstStooge (talk) 15:27, October 28, 2019 (UTC)