I Became Park Jeong-ui’s Nephew - Chapter 325



Only Noblemtl

He became Park Jeong-ui’s nephew. – (325)

“One day, a white girl said to an Asian, ‘Oh my, you’re Asian, but your eyes aren’t slanted and your skin is white.’ The Asian replied, ‘So you’re white, but you don’t have freckles and your skin is white.’ How did that sound to you? To me, it sounded like, ‘You’re Asian, but you have big eyes and nice skin.’ ‘Oh my, you’re white, but you don’t have freckles and your face isn’t red.’”

This is America,

A comedian threw a sharp gag in front of the audience.

White people might think that Asians have slanted eyes and yellow skin, but don’t Asians have prejudice against white people?

The comedian went on to explain how white people are perceived by Asians.

“Why do all white people want to tan their skin? I know the reason, and you know it too. Because bronze skin looks healthy? Yes, healthy tanned skin is more attractive than white, freckled white skin. What? White people turn bronze when they tan? What kind of white people are these? They’re achromats. We weren’t white, we were achromats. Like chameleons.”

The audience held their breath at the bone-chilling gag.

White people have long had prejudices against Asians.

Things like slanted eyes, pale skin, and an uncivilized image.

Japan knew this better than anyone else.

Japan, which had been fervently seeking Westernization, was extremely uncomfortable with being lumped into the same group as the Chinese.

We Japanese are a different race from them, so we ask to be treated separately. In fact, since then, there have been many opinions in the West that have a high opinion of Japan.

China and Korea are uncivilized, but Japan is a new member of the civilized world powers.

It is a famous case that US President Theodore Roosevelt was fascinated by Japanese literature and distributed related books to his acquaintances.

So did the Western powers only like Japan? While they acknowledged Japan’s development, they were also wary of it.

No matter how hard you try to imitate white people, Japanese people are just people of color, so there’s no way such exclusive perceptions and feelings will disappear.

Japan also felt with its whole body that it was being discriminated against among the Western powers.

That was concretized in the Treaty of Portsmouth,

Japan was excited by the prospect of winning the war against Russia and receiving the lease plus a huge amount of war reparations.

But the result is a mess,

Theodore Roosevelt made sure that Asian hegemony would not pass to Japan, and in the end, Japan ended up with a huge debt.

Even if Japan has secured a protectorate over Joseon, what benefit does that have for Japan?

In fact, when the Treaty of Portsmouth was confirmed, protests targeting the Western powers took place in Japan.

“These are the Americans who are like robbers!!”

“In the end, Japan was used!! Japan’s youth were sacrificed to stop Russia!!”

“What the hell is this?!! If we win the war, the Japanese will live well?!!”

The arson incident that occurred at Hibiya Park on September 5, 1905.

In fact, at that time, the United States and Britain thoroughly exploited Japan.

Although they promised to support Japan if she fought Russia, at a certain point the US and UK stopped buying Japan’s debt.

How can Japan, which has no money, continue the war with Russia?

So, even after winning the Russo-Japanese War, Japan had no choice but to make an agreement with Russia under American mediation.

All Japan gained was enormous war costs and casualties, and it had no choice but to rush the annexation of Joseon in order to quell social discontent.

What would Japan have felt after the Russo-Japanese War?

When they defeated Russia, they must have been proud that they had grown to be on par with the Western powers, but in reality, they were nothing more than puppets on the stage being played by the Western powers and dancing to their tune.

“I thought about it, and becoming part of a Western power doesn’t seem right.”

“Then how about a Greater East Asia Union? Japan unifying Asia to counter Western powers.”

“That’s great. From now on, Japan will fight against the West as a representative of Asia!!”

In this way, Japan, as some Western powers had hoped, eventually took the path of becoming the leader of Asia.

Japan’s anti-Americanism is still valid today.

Will the nightmare of two atomic bombs easily disappear?

The reason why Japan is still caught up in this sense of victimization is because it maintains the frame that ‘Japan is the representative of Asia that sacrificed itself while fighting against the invasion of Western powers.’

This is not a joke, it’s true,

Japan also made that point clear in the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

“The reason we had no choice but to start a war against the United States was because of the US oil embargo against Japan. If the US had taken such extreme measures, there would have been no war.”

Is this something a defeated country can say to a victorious country?

Even after Japan regained its sovereignty, it maintained an alliance with the United States because the alliance was beneficial to Japan, not because it truly trusted the United States.

So what about now?

As America’s hegemony began to waver, Japan, which was maintaining close diplomatic relations with Korea, began to express the idea that Korea and Japan should join hands to check the United States.

“I hope Koreans do not misunderstand. At that time, Japan had no choice but to hastily annex Korea because the United States and Britain had hit Japan in the back of the head. If Japan had only received the promised compensation, would it have hurriedly annexed Korea?”

“At that time, there was widespread discontent in Japan that the Japanese government had been deceived by Western powers and had wasted countless sacrifices of young people and resources. In order to appease this discontent, Japan had to achieve something, and that was the annexation of Joseon.”

“In reality, Japan was forced to annex Korea. Prime Minister Ito expressed his opposition, but at the time, there was no other way to convince the people.”

Japan’s claim sounds very plausible.

They are trying to make Joseon a better place by reforming it, but they got off to a bad start, and are trying to gloss over the past.

The history of Japan, which wanted to become white but ended up as a criminal. How will Korea react to this?

It is true that Korea also finds the United States annoying.

Which country was most cooperative with Japan in its conquest of Joseon?

Can we say that the US had no influence in the process of colonizing Korea, which was realized through the Katsura-Taft Secret Agreement and the Treaty of Portsmouth?

Even though the Korean Empire claimed that the Eulsa Treaty was invalid, the United States was busy taking Japan’s side.

Since the US acknowledges that Japan took over Joseon, if you think about it, the US also bears a heavy responsibility.

This is why Koreans cannot truly trust Americans. How can they possibly control the fate of another country and people?

They used to act like they were the losers of the world, but now the center of the world has shifted to East Asia.

Why do white people discriminate against other races because they are so good?

You say that East Asians have white skin? Don’t those white people have red faces, like they’ve been grilled over charcoal?

In fact, white people are weak to sunlight, so their faces turn red in the summer.

Here, severe freckles and skin aging are a bonus, and what makes Asians hesitate in front of white people?

Learning English to adapt to the era of globalization? What’s the point of learning English like that?

This is how East Asians view America these days.

Instead, you guys showed your courage by telling me to learn Korean.

“The biggest inconvenience Americans experience when they come to Korea is that Koreans don’t speak English.”

“This is hilarious!! Are they even trying to learn Korean?!!”

“There’s a saying that goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do!! Why should we have to explain it to them in English?!!”

Why are Koreans so angry?

It stemmed from a recent incident where an American discriminated against an Asian.

“75 pi? You can’t pronounce “five”? Are you Chinese?”

“No. I’m Korean.”

“What does it matter? Whether they’re Chinese or Korean, they came to America to make money anyway. If they came to America to make money, they should at least speak English properly.”

When we hear news of Asians being discriminated against, it’s only natural that the lid is lifted.

Do white people still think that Asians are poor people who came to America to make money?

Even though the center of the world economy has been reorganized to East Asia, Americans’ unique perception has not changed.

Even people who are somewhat educated know that if they are racist, they will be treated as ‘X’, so they tend to refrain from doing so. Honestly, do you think educated people wouldn’t be aware of racism?

But if you reveal it openly, nothing good will come of it.

South Korea is now the world’s largest economy with a population of 500 million, and if an American company makes a racist remark, it’s literally X.

So everyone just needs to be careful,

But what leaks at home won’t leak outside?

Eventually, the incident broke out.

***

“Your Majesty, this way.”

This is Yan’an, I toured the recently annexed territory.

When Lianxiang moved his base to Hebei Province, Yan’an was incorporated into Korea’s direct territory, and with a population of 15 million, it became the core of the inland economy.

The population living in the Henan – Yan’an – Shaanxi provinces is approximately 100 million.

The economic impact here is estimated at around $25 billion.

To do business here, you must first obtain permission from the Korean government, so naturally, businessmen from all over the world are flocking here.

Today is the day I meet those guests, and leading businessmen from all over the world, including Germany, the UK, the US, and Japan, bow their heads before me.

“Your Majesty, it is an honor to meet you.”

“I am honored. If a big shot like you invests, the economy will develop even more in the future. I ask for your continued investment.”

“Yes, I will do my best.”

In front of power and money, we are all just docile lambs.

But here, one guy who is making a big deal out of it appears.

“Haha~ Your Majesty, your skin is whiter and smoother than I thought?”

The protagonist of the irrational number is American businessman Jonathan Franklin. What should be the answer here?

Should I take it as a compliment that a 65-year-old has whiter and smoother skin than expected?

I didn’t want to make the mood awkward for no reason, so I laughed it off.

“I work in an office so I don’t get exposed to UV rays. Our hard-working security guards have dark skin.”

“Haha~ That… is that so?”

Jonathan Frank’s face turned white.

I can tell without even looking what expressions the Central Intelligence Agency agents next to me are making.

I quickly moved because I felt like something was going to go wrong.

“It was a slip of the tongue, so just pretend you didn’t see it.”

“All right.”

I also advised Deputy Chief Cho Dae-soo not to do anything useless.

Honestly, I feel a little bad, but I guess that’s not enough to swing a hammer at you.

The problem is that this incident was covered in the news, and the businessman who made such insulting remarks in front of the Korean leader was subject to public criticism.

There were even some who said that Jonathan Frank should not be allowed to live, but I gave Jonathan Frank an escort.

If Korea shows its authoritarian side here, will businessmen invest?

I’m getting older and my patience is running low, but I’ll laugh it off for the sake of the country’s development.