I Became Park Jeong-ui’s Nephew - Chapter 250



Only Krnovel

He became Park Jeong-ui’s nephew. – (250)

“Can we just stay still?”

“What are you trying to do by interfering? You have no justification.”

This is the United States, and US government officials are putting their heads together over the Shenyang incident.

Does the United States have any right to interfere in this situation?

The number of Koreans spread around the world is estimated at about 5 million.

Of these, 2 million are in the United States, and the rest are spread across Japan, Manchuria, Sakhalin, and Central Asia. So why are Koreans living so scattered?

The answer is simple.

Since their country was ruined, everyone left to find a way to survive, and the United States is not unrelated to this incident.

A secret agreement was made with Japan to divide the Philippines and Korea, and the repercussions of this continue to this day.

Even the United States bears great responsibility for the Jeju Island massacre.

It is true that there are many Jeju Island residents living in Japan and that they have deep ties to the Chongryon, so when the Korean government suppressed Jeju Island, the US military mobilized a fleet and surrounded the entire Jeju Island.

That’s not all.

It was also the United States that oppressed Koreans in Japan and forcibly relocated them north of the 39th parallel.

The problem of the Joseonjok is an extension of that. Korea is currently cleaning up the mess that the US has made. If they had left Joseon alone from the beginning according to the mutual protection treaty, wouldn’t this have happened?

Why does Korea have to worry about the problem of ethnic Koreans in China and ethnic Koreans in Japan?

Is it Korea’s fault for not taking care of them? Korea, which was independent but desperate to survive, was not indifferent to its overseas compatriots.

I was just busy trying to survive, and my overseas compatriots had no expectations that Korea, which had just become independent, would do well.

A Harvard University medical professor even said, “Even the World Bank had given up on Korea.” Do you think Korean Americans would ever consider returning to Korea?

So, Korean Americans decided to live as Americans, and the Korean people on the Korean Peninsula also forgot about their existence.

After living apart from each other for decades, we have lost our sense of homogeneity as one people. Do you think Koreans will accept that Koreans living in the US now regard Korea as their roots?

No, why should Korea accept people who left their country on their own?

Public opinion has long been that forced laborers should be repatriated, but other than that, we don’t care, and that ethnic Koreans in China are not Koreans, but problem children who threaten Korea’s sovereignty.

Does the US have any right to interfere here?

The Shenyang incident was an incident caused by ethnic Korean mobs who threatened Korea’s sovereignty, and the U.S. government turned a blind eye to it.

Diplomacy with Korea – Considering economic issues, I concluded that there was no need to provoke Korea unnecessarily.

In this way, the Joseonjok were completely isolated internationally.

***

“Did you hear? The Korean army invaded Shenyang.”

“Then does this have no effect?”

“Well, I’m not sure about that.”

This is Sakhalin. The Korean community was shaken by the news that the Korean army was on the move.

It is a little-known fact that there are about 60,000 Koreans living here.

After the end of World War II, southern Sakhalin (then Japanese territory) was occupied by the Soviet Union, and at the time, 360,000 Japanese and 40,000 Koreans remained there.

The Allied Command agreed to relocate all Japanese to Japan, and in the process, 7,000 Koreans who had married Japanese women also returned to Japan.

The problem starts here,

Are Koreans treated as Japanese just because they married a Japanese person?

In the Potsdam Declaration, the Allied forces discussed Korean independence, and at that point it was appropriate to treat the Koreans and Japanese in Sakhalin separately.

In addition, the Koreans here were forcibly conscripted by Japan; they did not come here of their own free will, and the Allied forces had an obligation to send them back to their hometown.

But the Allied forces did not care about such details, and the fate of Sakhalin Koreans fell into the hands of the Soviet Union.

They were forcibly indoctrinated with communist ideology under the Soviet system, and were discriminated against in their jobs because of their race – even their freedom to travel was violated.

[We want to go back to our hometown. Please save us, Korean government.]

Many people were caught and arrested after writing letters of repatriation to Korea, and in this way, Sakhalin Koreans maintained their identity as Koreans.

North Korea is trying to do something about this.

North Korea encouraged Sakhalin Koreans to naturalize.

“South Korea won’t accept you. So how about naturalizing in North Korea?”

“Our hometown is South Korea, not North Korea. There is no reason to naturalize there.”

Of course, Sakhalin Koreans rejected North Korea’s offer.

That’s because the hometown of Sakhalin Koreans is South Korea, and they maintained the stance of going to South Korea no matter what, but they had no opportunity to come into contact with Korea.

How to break through the strict social control of the Soviet Union and establish contact with South Korea?

In 1965, Sakhalin Koreans once again requested the Soviet Union to allow them to return home, but the Soviet Union, which was hostile to South Korea, ignored their request.

However, Sakhalin Koreans did not give up on returning to their homeland, and in 1975, Koreans who immigrated to Japan with their Japanese wives rolled up their sleeves.

They requested the Japanese government to repatriate Sakhalin Koreans to Korea 44 times until 1986, but the Japanese government ignored their request.

It’s not because they look down on Korea, it’s because of historical issues.

Now that the past issues have been covered up, if the history of Sakhalin Koreans is reexamined, Japan will once again become a murderous entity.

So, the Japanese government was also eager to ask about this issue.

Between 1938 and 1945, Japan forcibly mobilized 150,000 Koreans to Sakhalin, and it is impossible to count how many of them died.

From Japan’s perspective, it is a Pandora’s box that should never be opened.

Up until now, it had been covered up somehow, but when Korea sent its troops to Shenyang, the Sakhalin Korean community was shaken.

“Now is the chance, let’s go to Shenyang.”

“Well… will the Korean government accept us? It’s been so long.”

“What crime did we commit? We were just forcibly conscripted by Japan. And when North Korea asked us to become naturalized, we kept our convictions. We are different from Chongryon, which played around with North Korea.”

“Okay, let’s go!! It’s not like anything will change just by staying here!!”

In this way, Sakhalin Koreans crossed the strait one by one and moved to Shenyang.

Of those numbers, only about 20,000 were affected, and the remaining 40,000 were also affected by the Korean government’s response.

***

“Your Majesty, we have received a call from Japan.”

“In Japan? What’s going on?”

“It’s a question about Sakhalin Koreans.”

This is the Daedeok County official residence, and I received a letter from Japan.

Were there Koreans living in Sakhalin too?

Something I hadn’t noticed before: my eyes twitched several times while I was reading.

[I can’t even count how many letters this is sending to Korea. I hope that this time our voices will reach your ears.

We, Sakhalin Koreans, were taken to this faraway place by the Japanese, and even after liberation, we were abandoned by the US military and discriminated against by the Soviet Union. When I think of those years of suffering, I still feel angry.

The Japanese government also tried to cover up this issue to avoid responsibility.

But now that won’t be the case any more, because the Korean army has moved to Shenyang, and we have an opening to make contact with Korea.

[Your Majesty, our homeland is Korea and our nationality is Korea. That is why we refused until the end when North Korea offered us naturalization. It is unfair to be treated the same as the Koreans in Japan who played around with the Chongryon and the like.]

I nodded.

We could have gone over to North Korea, but we maintained our identity as Koreans. Aren’t we different from the Koreans in Japan who played around with Chongryon?

It was my fault for ignoring these people until now.

Even if there was sabotage by the Soviet Union and Japan, that is just an excuse.

I immediately sent people to the Russian Republic to discuss the issue of Korean immigration to Sakhalin, and the Russian government promised to return the Koreans to their homeland.

But that alone is not enough. Can Russia, with its weak administrative power, send 60,000 Koreans to Korea?

In that case, Korea had no choice but to take action itself and use all means at its disposal to bring back the Sakhalin Koreans to the mainland.

And explain to the Korean public why they should be accepted as Koreans.

Koreans were moved by the story that they could not watch without crying.

“So you’ve lived for 40 years maintaining your identity as a Korean?”

“When North Korea asked you to become naturalized, you refused. No other explanation is needed.”

Korean public opinion was determined to accept Sakhalin Koreans, and once public opinion was formed, a national fundraising campaign began.

It would take a lot of money for Sakhalin residents to settle in Korea, but the Korean mainland, with an annual income of over $30,000, could easily afford it.

The Korean government was also sincere about the return of Sakhalin Koreans to the mainland, and the Korean military dispatched to Shenyang was given the mission of protecting them and transporting them to their home country.

In the meantime, the US and Japan are feeling ‘sore’, wondering who abused and neglected them.

Koreans who returned from Sakhalin also trembled at the thought of the United States and Japan.

“This is what happened because America abandoned us!! It was America that handed our lives over to the Soviet Union at that time!!”

“What about the Japanese?!! They’ve been blocking our contact with Korea all this time!! That’s why we can’t trust the Japanese!!”

The Sakhalin Incident Sheds Light on the Atrocities of the U.S. and Japan

Can Korea maintain an alliance with them despite this?

As a result of the Shenyang Incident, Manchuria has now fallen into Korean hands, and 32% of the Eurasian continent has come under Korean influence. Korea has been playing around in the hands of the great powers, but I have turned a deaf ear to their voices.

It is true that the US and Japan made mistakes.

But we’ve come too far now to throw it all away.

Both the US and Japan are strategic partners for the Korean economy. What would Korea gain by bringing up past issues?

But it is true that Korea’s reputation will be damaged even if we stay still.

The US-Japan civil society supported the Sakhalin issue and brought it to light.

[At the Potsdam Conference, the Allied Powers agreed to make Korea independent from Japan. From that moment on, the Koreans in Sakhalin were entitled to Allied protection, and the Allied Powers had a duty to send them home.

However, the Allied forces sent Koreans who had married Japanese to Japan, and handed the rest over to the Soviet Union. This was a clear violation of the agreement.

In addition, Japan has obstructed contact between Sakhalin Koreans and the Korean government for 30 years in order to cover up past problems. The Japanese government should apologize for this problem.

That is the only way to appease the resentment of the victims who died in a foreign land.]

Repeated pressure from civil society,

Eventually, the United States and Japan admitted their wrongdoings in the Sakhalin incident and apologized.

Then, that was it. I continued to interact with the US and Japan without any problems. An apology is a privilege that only a powerful country can receive. Isn’t receiving an apology itself a reaffirmation of Korea’s status?

Of course, there is still resentment in the hearts of the Sakhalin people, but that is a problem that will be solved with time.

Political issues and economic interests were strictly separated.