I Became Park Jeong-ui’s Nephew - Chapter 39



Only Krnovel

He became Park Jeong-ui’s nephew. – (39)

“Are you on a business trip again this time?”

“That’s what happened.”

This is Gyeongseong, Dong-A Ilbo editor-in-chief Park Sang-ui is preparing to hit the road.

Now that my son has become president, can’t I stop being a journalist and live comfortably?

Director Park Sang-ui answered the question that had been lingering in his mind.

‘What I had to do ended up becoming my life.’

Actually, I wanted to be a teacher, but I kept failing to get into teacher training college, so I became a reporter to make a living.

So did you feel proud while doing this work?

In response to threats from the Japanese, journalists took the lead in the pro-Japanese front, and media outlets that resisted this were consolidated.

Park Sang-ui, who was at the center of the scene, realized how powerless a reporter was in the face of power and violence, and eventually turned into an independence activist.

So, was the reporter just a means to carry out the independence movement?

If that’s true, now that the country is independent, there’s no reason to be a journalist anymore.

But when he came to his senses and realized that he had been a journalist for over 20 years, Director Park Sang-i was able to distinguish between dreams and reality.

“Yes, I wanted to be a teacher. That was my dream. But what I have to do now is be a journalist. That’s my life.”

Life is not just about chasing dreams,

When you accept reality, you compromise with the dream you’ve been chasing your whole life, and that becomes your life.

But so what? Having something to do means living a life, and Director Park Sang-i accepted life as a journalist.

Anyway, today is the same day,

The reporting vehicle stopped in a mountain valley in Gangwon Province.

“Are there any Japanese people here?”

“Yes, everyone was nervous when they heard that the director was coming.”

Director Park Sang-ui listened to the words of the representative of the forestry cooperative.

When Japan was defeated, it is estimated that there were approximately 6 to 7 million Japanese living overseas.

So did all those people return to Japan?

First of all, all Japanese people who remained in mainland China were treated as having died in the war. This meant that they had been swept up in the war and died, and that the government had abandoned its people.

“You just live there.”

“Don’t come here.”

In fact, Japan abandoned them from the beginning.

The population of Japan’s mainland alone is 70 million. How can such a large population be supported on such a small piece of land?

That’s why the government actively encouraged immigration, and that’s why 7 million Japanese people live overseas.

Anyway, these people were pushed out of their homeland.

There is no one to welcome them back home.

The Japanese who were left in this way pretended to be Chinese or went into hiding, and this problem was repeated in Korea as well.

“Let’s learn Korean!!”

“Yes!! Why should we leave here?!! We’re going to live here!!”

When Japan fell, Japanese people in Korea competitively learned Korean.

During the Japanese colonial period, there was no need to learn Korean because Japanese people formed clan villages together, but now that the world has changed, shouldn’t we coexist with Koreans?

But the Korean government refused to coexist with them.

“You guys, go home now. And leave everything you have behind.”

“Can’t we live here? We can speak Korean well now.”

“Do you want to get hit or just go? Do you want me to listen to you when you pick up a club? Do you want me to treat you like you used to treat us?”

Koreans who were oppressed by the Japanese for 36 years would get nervous just hearing the word ‘Japan’.

It doesn’t matter whether they learn Korean or not.

The Koreans’ position is that we should just get rid of the Japanese before our eyes.

When full-scale repression began, some Japanese went into hiding in the mountains.

The Korean government doesn’t even know how many there are, so should they all be identified and sent back to Japan?

Even if they were sent back, they would not be welcomed in the mainland, so one way would be to show mercy and let them live in Korea.

The problem is that it is not that easy,

Director Park Sang-ui listened to the grievances of the Korean people.

“Even now, when I think about that time, my hair stands on end!!”

“I ran away without taking even a single penny!! My family is dead!! So why should we forgive the Japanese?!!”

Survivors who returned from the Great Kanto Massacre,

I came to Japan only to make a living, but I got caught up in a terrible massacre.

It is not known how many Koreans died, but what is clear is that the Japanese took this incident very seriously.

How many people must have died if the Japanese government is surprised?

In fact, the following year, Koreans in Japan held a memorial service, and a few years later, a public-private joint project was launched to hold another memorial service.

‘That’s funny.’

‘Do you not know that you are also accomplices?’

But Koreans scoffed at the Japanese attitude.

As public sentiment grew increasingly uneasy due to the Great Kanto Earthquake, the Japanese attempted to maintain public order by redirecting public discontent toward the government onto Koreans.

The fact is that this led to harm targeting Koreans.

But because so many people were killing them, they also thought, ‘Oh no.’

But now the public and private sectors are joining forces to commemorate the victims? This is not like giving a disease or a cure, it is just a deception.

“Where are these Japanese guys?!!”

“Just try to get caught!! Feel the pain of the Korean people who died unjustly!!”

“Burn them alive!! My brother was burned alive too!!”

That grudge has exploded right now,

Japanese people hiding in various places are living in fear, not knowing when they will be killed.

So what should the Korean government do?

What does it matter whether these people, who have been abandoned by Japan anyway, die at the hands of angry citizens?

The issue of Japanese residents in Korea was neglected by both Japan and Korea, and Director Park Sang-ui barely managed to maintain neutrality in this chaos.

[Japan should formally apologize to Korea, and Korea should also protect Japanese people. If we continue like this, the terrible massacre will only happen again.]

The manuscript was completed, but it was not published as an article.

Is it okay for the president’s father to publish an article like this?

In addition, Koreans are rejoicing and cheering three times as the Korean president beats up Japan.

A reporter must act according to his or her own beliefs and conscience, but sometimes he or she must also be mindful of others. The timing was not good for an article like this.

***

“Your Majesty, I have something to report to you.”

“What’s going on?”

“That’s… the Dong-A Ilbo editor-in-chief… .”

“Why, father?”

The same routine that repeats itself today,

I received a report from Prime Minister Lee Beom-seong.

Prime Minister Lee Beom-seong hesitated for a moment before handing over a newspaper, wondering what had happened when he had been too busy worrying about state affairs to pay attention to his family.

[Japan should formally apologize to Korea, and Korea should also protect Japanese people residing in Korea. If we continue like this, the massacre that occurred in Kanto will only be repeated.]

It felt like I got hit in the back of the head with a hammer,

Why did my father suddenly publish an article like this?

I remembered something belatedly.

“The Japanese hid in the mountains?”

“Yes, I am holding out because I don’t want to go back to my hometown.”

“Tell the Gangwon-do Forestry Cooperative to find them all.”

“All right.”

The instructions I gave a while ago,

In Korea, forest restoration projects are in full swing, so the only place with forests where Japanese people can hide is Gangwon Province.

The fish have jumped into the net of their own accord, and it is only a matter of time before they are all destroyed.

But this article came out? This means that violence targeting Japanese people is happening repeatedly in Gangwon Province.

So the question here is, what position should I take?

Honestly, when I think about what the Japanese did to Joseon, my hair still stands on end.

Even if I beat them all to death, it wouldn’t be enough, but in my father’s eyes, I might have looked like a monster.

[Son, don’t become a monster just because the Japanese did it]

Why does this article look like this to me?

To be honest, it’s true that I dealt with this incident emotionally. Am I massacring civilians now?

While I was suffering alone, Prime Minister Lee Beom-seong barged in.

“Your Majesty, shall we dispose of them all?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I think it would be better to dispose of it. Public opinion in Korea is currently hostile to Japan, so if an article like this is circulated….”

“Hmm~.”

I put down the newspaper I was holding.

It’s not that I don’t understand my father’s intentions, but I have to respond with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

If Japan admits its mistakes in the Kanto Massacre and apologizes to the victims, I, too, am willing to deal with this issue humanely.

But what if it’s the other way around?

Unfortunately, Japan’s position remains unchanged.

[It is true that innocent Koreans were killed during the Great Kanto Earthquake. However, it was a misunderstanding, and the Japanese government and the people came together to commemorate the victims.]

So, it was a mistake and the Japanese government tried its best to handle the situation. Isn’t that a really shameful attitude?

Despite this, the Korean government protects Japanese people and treats them humanely?

To put it bluntly, Korea is currently following Japan.

The Japanese government turned a blind eye to the problem, as it had no way to repatriate millions of its citizens and no ability to feed them.

Then, if a problem arises, wouldn’t it be enough to just play up the media and say that Korea is oppressing the Japanese?

It’s not that I don’t understand what my father said, but when I see Japan’s actions, I just can’t forgive it.

“Shut down this article and gather the Japanese at Busan Port.”

“All right.”

As soon as the order was given, the Japanese who had been hiding in Gangwon Province were dragged out into the world.

The number is approximately 1,200.

The Korean government sent a notice to Japan to take these people back.

However, the Japanese government is holding out, saying that they have no time to spare, and some politicians are even going so far as to say that they are not Japanese.

“Where in the world are there Japanese people who speak Korean? They are not Japanese.”

“If I were Japanese, I would rather commit suicide than suffer such humiliation.”

Rumors spread throughout Japan that Japanese people living in Korea learned Korean in order to remain in Joseon.

Japanese public opinion is also criticizing him as a traitor who has turned his back on his country.

I am a person who handles things coolly, but this time, after much deliberation, I made a humane decision.

[If you are not Japanese, there is no reason why you cannot be Korean. Everyone should do their best in their own profession.]

In this way, 1,200 Japanese people were recognized as Koreans.

But this is just the beginning, as Japanese people who had been hiding in the shadows are now coming out into the light one by one.

The number is approximately 12,000,

Are there still so many Japanese people living in Korea like rats?

They used this incident as an opportunity to express their hostility toward Japan.

“Why don’t you just commit suicide?!! Is that something a politician should say?!!”

“How can this be happening when our citizens are dying overseas!!”

“I refuse to become Japanese!! From today onwards, I am Korean!!”

This incident also caused enormous repercussions in mainland Japan.

If Korea is like this, what about China or Manchuria?

It is a number that is difficult to even imagine, and as expected, even Japanese people who were living like mice in China began to speak up.

“How can we not do it too?”

“It looks like the Japanese government has abandoned us. Please save us, Korea.”

An incident that embarrassed the Japanese government.

Japan’s image took a huge hit when the identities of millions of Japanese people living overseas were revealed.

How can those who abandon their own people talk about the pride of Japan?

A politician who had been spewing out harsh words to Japanese people overseas telling them to commit suicide even received a letter saying, “You are the one who should commit suicide.”