Why didn't Korea restore its monarchy after World War 2? (Short Animated Documentary)

Before it was annexed by Japan, Korea had been a monarchy basically for ever. But after its independence there was essentially zero attempt to revive that monarchy and both Koreas became republics. So why not? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
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[@robertlarson7224]

Korea never restored their monarchy only because James Bisonette wasn't there to take the throne

[@MesaperProductions]

Restore the Bisonette!

[@chaselegoman]

And if Spinning Three Plates had been Spinning Four Plates, He would have ruled forever!

[@James_Bissonette]

You figured

[@James_Bissonette]

You figured

[@generalhamburger2405]

​@@James_Bissonette Is this THE James bissonette ?

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

For anyone wondering, Yi Un’s wife was Princess Masako of Nashimoto, the paternal first cousin of Empress Nagako (Hirohito’s wife) and the maternal first cousin of Setsuko, Princess Chichibu, the wife of Hirohito’s brother Yasuhito.

[@maddogbasil]

Nothing too surprising tbh Royal family trees were always loosely connected Monarchies always find a way to diplomatically send their family trees spiraling into the other side of the world

[@walhall9]

😁

[@Izzysai]

Thanks

[@riowhi7]

i feel like a commonly overlooked aspect of East asian monarchies is that they were also pretty intertwined, as you demonstrated. Perhaps not as intertwined as European aristocracy but intertwined nonetheless. Japanese nationalists will ignore this, but Japan's royal family publicly acknowledges it's ancient ties and possible origins in/with the Korean peninsula. Not to say the Japanese imperial family aren't Japanese but yk, it's a cool fact.

[@bluesteel8376]

So then she wasn't a real princess?

[@thewestisthebest6608]

There is still a pretender to the Korean throne. The Grandson of the Emperor Gojong He supports founding a Constitutional Monarchy. Currently he’s a history Professor which would be a pretty cool professor to have I think

[@pixelmaster98]

"He supports founding a Constitutional Monarchy" lmao not a big surprise there, if that would make him king xD

[@quuaaarrrk8056]

_So, students. Now to the history of Korea at the beginning of the 20th century._ _Korea had just been made an Empire under Emperor Gojong. Yeah, he was overall a pretty cool guy and absolutely great for his people. Did I mention, he was also my grandfather._ -While that conversation would be pretty cool, I was not able to find the person you are alluding to - all of Gojong's grandchildren are dead. There are great-grandchildren, some of whom are pretenders to the throne, but none of them seem to be history professors.- Edit: I am in the wrong here - as thewestisthebest points out in the next reply, the person in question is named Yi Seok and, like James Bissonette, does indeed exist.

[@thewestisthebest6608]

@@quuaaarrrk8056 His name is Yi Seok. I’ll admit my research ended at Wikipedia but according to that he’s the Son of Gojong’s son Prince Yi Kang

[@quuaaarrrk8056]

@@thewestisthebest6608 My research was also just a short click through Wikipedia :D You seem to be correct, I must have missed him on my initial click-through. What I find interesting, is this line from the Wikipedia page: "Yi promotes the creation of a constitutional monarchy _alongside_ the existing presidential system"

[@americanloyalist4599]

Princess Ingrid of Norway future queen was a dishwasher one summer she is a future queen not a pretender so a pretender have a better job currently then someone who will one day be queen

[@anthropolis4427]

He answers the questions we didn't even think about.

[@flawyerlawyertv7454]

True XD

[@FlatulentWhale]

I didn't not think it too

[@MyName-lq7rv]

Moreso questions we have every once in a while but then never think about again

[@SL16867]

I am Asian. Before this video I wondered what became of the Joseon legacy.

[@user-fj7yk2lf3e]

I didn't even know Korea had an monarch

[@jmantime]

Fun Fact : The Korean Empires Navy only had two warships, the auxiliary gunboats KIS Yangmu and KIS Guangjae which were old British colliers rebuilt into homemade gunboats ( captured by Japan in 1910 and serving until sunk 1941 - 1944 WW2).

[@tocreatee5736]

Fun Fact : there were 9 Korean generals in imperial japanese army ar end of WW2. including Hong Sa-ik, a class A war criminal.

[@Brian-----]

But Koreans did, I believe, invent ironclads. 🙂

[@jmantime]

@@Brian----- wooden ironclads like ships in 1500's, but in the 1880's and 1900's they mostly brought old British and Chinese merchant vessels, but in 1880's they did attempt to design their own version of an ironclad battleship but failed.

[@Bonedagi]

​@@tocreatee5736Still crimes committed by Imperial Japan, since, well, Korea was a part of Japan back then.

[@tocreatee3585]

@@Brian----- 😂😂😂😂😂

[@bcvetkov8534]

So, fun fact the last Korean claimant currently resides in America in Los Angeles, CA. He was offered the sword of Joseon in a fucking nightclub during a rave. Which must've been such a wild moment for that guy and Korean monarchists everywhere.

[@howtoappearincompletely9739]

I don't think anyone takes seriously Yi Seok's designation of Andrew Lee as his successor. Yi Won is the pretender with most support, being the Director of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association and the presiding officer of its annual jongmyo jerye.

[@ddwkc]

Someone has to make a rave with all members of former monarchies. Have the Ottoman, Joseon, Brazil/Portugal, Hawai, Qing, Iran, and countless European, Indian, and African ones.

[@bcvetkov8534]

@@howtoappearincompletely9739 Ik but it's fun to speculate lol

[@slewone4905]

The king of Korea in a rave with a sword. .... And he didn't pop a mystery pill, and didn't go on a massacre?

[@aristhu7833]

@@slewone4905 He got a grip

[@tianhaoju4634]

It is interesting to compare the case of monarchism in Korea to that of the Cambodian one. Cambodia was colonized by the French for even longer, yet it was able to restore its monarchy under Sihanouk's family, and even restored it once more after both Lon Nol and Pol Pot has been overthrown.

[@BartlomiejDmowski]

But Cambodia kept its monarchy when it was a French colony. Sihanouk was a clever king to put himself as a leader of independence movement. And he was a skilled as well as charismatic politician who never left the Cambodian political scene, able to find support for monarchism

[@jonathanwebster7091]

The East Asian communist republics monarchies all had *weird* relationships with the royal families they displaced: In Vietnam, the last Emperor, Bao Dai, abdicated the throne in favour of the communist government, and was even appointed to the position of ‘supreme advisor’ to the President (ie, Ho Chi Minh). A position that he actively held for a year, until he went into self-imposed exile in Hong Kong, and then was recruited by the anti-communists to be the first Head of State (not monarch or President, though he did retain much of the rights and privileges he had as emperor) of South Korea before he was deposed by Ngô Đình Diệm, who then declared himself President. The first President of communist Laos (and one of the leaders of the Pathet Lao movement and party) who held office until 1991, was Prince Souphanouvong, who was a minor member of the royal family. He also, like the Vietnamese, appointed the deposed King, along with the former Crown Prince as his ‘supreme advisor’-but unlike their Vietnamese counterpart, they didn’t last long until they were placed (and died) in a re-education camp. And communist China of course made a point of not only not executing its last Emperor, Pu Yi, but also making a model citizen out of him once he was ahem, ‘re-educated’. He also held a seat in the National People’s Assembly, and was placed on a list of people to be protected during the cultural revolution.

[@jonathanwebster7091]

re. Sihanouk, what is really surprising is that he was not all that personally keen on being monarch in the first place: in fact when the settlement was reached in 1993, he initially wasn’t bothered about restoring the monarchy, and said he was happy becoming President, until he was convinced otherwise. Also, he of course held the figurehead head of state position of ‘Chairman of the State Presidium’ of the Khmer Rouge Democratic Kampuchea regime, and most of the reason they came to power was because of his initial support (many peasants just equated it for support for their former King, Cambodian monarchs being basically god-Kings in Cambodian society like their Thai and Japanese counterparts are). He did resign though once he realised how bad Pol Pot was and how vicious his regime was, and he himself was placed under house arrest, with many of his family members, including some of his children, being killed. After the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea by Vietnam and it’s replacement with a Vietnam-backed government (which itself had little foreign recognition), Sihanouk made agreements with moderates from the Khmer Rouge regime and formed a government in exile of Democratic Kampuchea, which he was head of and which received foreign recognition and even kept Cambodia’s seat at the UN-a position he kept until the UN took over de facto government of Cambodia in the aftermath of the fall of communism, after which he was restored as King. A very surprising, and fascinating character, a very astute politician, and he was also-oddly-good friends with Mao, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Kim Il-Sung. I think I read somewhere that he held the record number of times a person has held political office-two reigns as King, one as ‘Head of State’ of the Kingdom, two as Prime Minister, one as head of state of Democratic Kampuchea, and one as President of the government in exile. All in all, a remarkable man.

[@tianhaoju4634]

@@jonathanwebster7091 I do think Sihanouk is a very intersting man. During the time he was in exile, he lived in China - and regularly returned to China to visit his friends. His son who is the current king of Cambodia, is a big fan of arts, just like Sihanouk himself. He was able to make agreements with both Lon Nol's faction and moderate Khmer Rogue officials.

[@jonathanwebster7091]

@@tianhaoju4634 one of the hallmarks of good politician: the ability to compromise and see the other person’s point of view. And I think, to be fair, he always seemed to put Cambodia first, or at least, what he thought was best for it. It was never about his own power or prestige.

[@akend4426]

Yes, Korea once had a monarchy! I’d recommend taking a look at how Japan and Qing China’s competition for influence over Korea as a tributary state lead to the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895.

[@matthewgillies7509]

Korea also had a long tradition of referring to its rulers as "Kings" in their correspondence with neighbouring China and Japan, while internally referring to them as an emperor. As for most of its history it was a vassal or tributary state to China, and recognized its ruler as the "Son of Heaven" (the emperor). When Japan came a knocking in the late 19th century and desired Korean recognition for their Emperor in that role, the Korean rulers initially said that there couldn't be two at the same time. Later on, they decided that both the Emperor of China and Japan had lost the mandate, so they took it for themselves.

[@Alboalt]

I learned that Korea once had a monarchy today! The Interwebs is good for something after all.

[@bobjones2959]

@@matthewgillies7509 There was another brief moment when Korea declared the mandate for themselves, that was when the Ming dynasty fell to the Manchus. Korea initially refused to recognize the legitimacy of Qing as "China," claiming it was barbarian and didn't hold the mandate of heaven. It was only after Qing launched a series of wars that drained both sides' resources that Korea agreed to recognize Qing and become a tributary state.

[@HeartbeatCN]

One could argue that North Korea is an absolute monarchy.

[@diddlypoop4722]

@@Alboaltas a rule of thumb, expect every country was once a monarchy at one point

[@ujuoh7730]

As a korean, I tell you one of the reason was that the previous ruling royal family seemed very incompetent to the eyes of the people.

[@DrHydra47]

I mean the korean "empire" didnt really resist the annexation that much and most of the korean monarchs were pro japanese

[@t850terminator]

Fuck em, we only had like what, like two good monarchs in the last few thousand years? Thats a bad deal 💀

[@karltsang9854]

Yeah the last few were particularly useless, but probably the worst for Korea during the Joseon Dynasty was Gojong's father the Daewongun.

[@ytn00b3]

Loyalists were all died or lost their power that's why. It doesn't matter what people think.

[@alexlehrersh9951]

Lies of a anti monarchist@@t850terminator

[@paulhan1615]

Hi, Korean here. While this video is an excellent and concise summary on why the monarchy never set its foothold again in the peninsula, I want to add some more important points here. Following the death of former Korean emperor Gojong, groups of Korean resistance would gather at Chinese city of Shanghai where they would form a Korean Provisional Government. It proclaimed that Liberated Korea will be a republic, not a return of the monarchs. However, of its constitutions, there were clauses that, after Japanese occupation, the government would honor the monarchy in pledge of loyalty for their former leaders albeit as a symbolic one. After Japan's defeat in WW2, provisional government at this point, was only a shattered fraction of what it used to be. Plagued by factional infighting between the nationalists and the communists, who left the KPG in the 1920s, it literally ceased to be a relevant player in the events that was to come. Also, the pressing political issue at that point was how to make a unified Korea and deciding who would get to run them. There were thousands of protests, street fighting and terror attacks everyday by both the nationalists and the communists over any issues. In these conditions, the issue of bringing back some monarchs who have been out of the spotlight for many years didn't matter at all to the politicians and the ordinary people. Even if Great Britain was allowed to join the partition, I don't think it would have led to the return of the monarchs. There were simply too much in the line waiting for power.

[@karltsang9854]

It's a huge shame the Provisional government couldn't do anything meaningful after the war. Kim Gu would have been a much better and more moderate leader but neither the South nor North liked him because he wanted reunification immediately, which was also why he didn't want to run in the South Korean elections which led to Syngman Rhee becoming leader. Unfortunately his attempts at creating a middle ground led to both the nationalists and communists disliking him which resulted in his assassination in 1949.

[@robe3176]

@@karltsang9854 yeah I'm also korean and I'm sad to see kim gu assassinated

[@jeffbenton6183]

In the opinions of the Koreans here, would a four-way partition between the US, USSR, Nationalist China and the UK have decreased the likelihood of the Korean War breaking out? If not would it have made the course and outcome significantly different? This is the first time I heard about the four-way partition proposal.

[@user-do9vx4un1k]

​@@jeffbenton6183Not much would change if Kim Il-sung is still placed as the leader of North Korea and all foreign military forces are withdrawn from Korea so that Kim Il-sung can initiate the plan of reuniting Korea by force. The differences in the scale and location of occupation areas would affect the war's consequences tho.

[@rossbuchanan9389]

I'm sorry, that sucks 😔

[@paleoph6168]

The short-lived history of the independent Korean "empire" during the first half of the Twentieth Century is quite fascinating. What would its future be like if Japan was not as aggressive in its expansion as it is in real history?

[@yuyoshida7359]

Gotta be connected to Russia if Japan lost to the Russo-Japanese war. Definitely becoming a Protectorate, possibly becoming a Russian puppet or ending up annexed all over again

[@mbos14]

I think to not have an as aggressive Japan. They would need have been allowed to remain isolationist. One of the main reason behind Japan expansion was a lack of certain natural resources combined with what they called the unequal treaties.

[@youwayo]

@@yuyoshida7359so, North Korea?

[@abs_nobody]

considering how "china" at the time was so incompetent at that point to the point where they just sat and watch as some of their border cities get raided by the korean "empire," if japan wasn't enthusiastic about carving their share of china, korea sure would have been

[@yuyoshida7359]

@@youwayono before Russian Revolution so no commies…yet

[@CodeZero587]

Man I have been watching your channel for a long time and you basically covered much of modern history, great I loved it! Now please make a video about indo-pak wars, that's a huge part of gap you missed out

[@AreaEightyNine]

That’s weird. I was just thinking about if you ever did a video on the Koreas earlier this morning and then I see this. Thank you

[@alender6200]

steady as she goes dude and cranck up those tunes!

[@yoda5280]

I love your channel!!

[@Epic_Egg]

Hello

[@Thedrunkape96]

It's a shame that so many of your videos now are "kids" videos, which have disabled comments. I highly enjoyed reading the comments on your spongebob videos.

[@Kevinlikescountrys]

Another neat video! Really loving the new art style, thanks for the info!

[@CelestialMaymay]

on god the best channel, already know this is going to be a banger

[@dasmysteryman12]

There's a Korean drama during the early 2000s that's basically an alternate history in which they revived the monarchy after World War II. It's called "Princess Hours", and it overwhelmingly feels more like "The Princess Diaries" than any recent alt-history fare like, say, "For All Mankind".

[@MewDenise]

Or "Eternal Monarch" which sadly I dropped due to bad writing and annoying ads.

[@floydlooney6837]

That was a good series

[@PrograError]

@@floydlooney6837 well for a K drama... it's pretty on par... plus it hits all the marks of a k drama...

[@justanotherwhitegirla7093]

I read the manhwa and thought it was decent, but I didn't care for the drama. Monarch was ok, I only watched because I liked Kim Go-eun in Goblin.

[@DaBritishBird]

I’m always excited to see history matters videos he is better than everyone else good job!

[@nandreshiram2269]

Something else pretty interesting is looking into the creation of North and South Korea, because man is there a a LOT that happened. “Kim Il-Sung: The North Korean Leader” by Dae Sook Suh and “Heroes and Toilers” by Cheehyung Harrison Kim go into some minor details about the creation of the two Koreas while focusing primarily on the North. Good reads!

[@SL16867]

Thanks for recommending books written by Koreans and not by outsiders. Asian authors get ignored too often by English speakers.

[@brandonlyon730]

@@SL16867 Unless it’s manga or manhwa.

[@nandreshiram2269]

@@SL16867 Suh unfortunately passed away in mid 2022, but he was (along with CH Kim) are experts on North Korean politics, history, and other facets of the country. They are rare birds of the field, because both had been to North Korea before to do research!

[@SL16867]

@@nandreshiram2269 That is sad to hear, but kudos for the detail.

[@yokolee5243]

Yeah he liked that curved shape of North Korea better because all of Koreas shape looks like it’s getting fucked by japan

[@Replicaate]

This channel answers questions about history I never even thought about asking.

[@JackieDaytona1776]

For videos that I know the history of, its a great refresher. For videos that I dont know the history of, they're so fast!

[@valmid5069]

Korean history is greatly underrated; glad they are getting bit of spotlight Can’t wait for more historical content from this channel!

[@ddwkc]

Yeah, compared to how much documentation it has and how much Korean Wave popularized some Korean cultural exports, on YT at least it is very underrated. Sometimes disconnected even. Like history of Japanese pirates are popular, but Korean navy fighting them is just a footnote. And when Korean history is visited, it is mostly Yi Sun-sin or King Sejong.

[@daniellee3187]

@@ddwkc I wish there was more about Goguryeo, it was a very epic dynasty

[@BrakeCoach]

@@daniellee3187even better, maybe Balhae, the "cancelled spinoff"

[@johnmcmacer1482]

@@BrakeCoach Not Balhae, it wasn't nearly as powerful as goguryeo, and was much more multiethnic (and thus less korean) than goguryeo.

[@BrakeCoach]

@@johnmcmacer1482 well I think it makes it more interesting. Balhae is way less known than Goguryeo but its made its mark in korean and manchurian history nonetheless

[@willpark111]

Fun fact. Rhee Syngman is a distant relative of the Korean royal family

[@kami7028]

Who is this person? Genuinely curious

[@yuyoshida7359]

He was descended from the 양반 (yangban), the aristocrat class of Korea before Japanese annexation. A lot of the yangban opposed the Japanese Empire post annexation, naturally because they were stripped of their power over their nation. And obviously, Syngman Rhee was anti-Japanese during his governance

[@stevenbaksh5545]

He is oh how very interesting I wonder how NK used that piece of information? I am guessing they said oh look the current president of South Korea is also a relative of the traitorous royal family

[@hulagu3068]

So is every other korean.

[@donpollo3154]

@@kami7028 first president of Korea

[@edu_pl]

Excellent video. I wish you all a happy new year!!

[@BobaFatt997]

Amazing upload - very interesting.

[@RedXlV]

1:54 The thing is, South Korea's first "president"/dictator Syngman Rhee, while not a collaborator himself (he was in the United States for most of the period of Japanese rule), was quite friendly with the former collaborators and they were a major part of his power base. And the next South Korean dictator, Park Chung Hee, was such a blatant collaborator that he was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. Park had been convicted and sentenced to death in a military court, but was pardoned by Rhee.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

To add, Park Ching Hee makes a lot of correspondence with one Nobosuke Kishi (AKA the Monster of Manchukuo, LDP Founder, and maternal grandfather of the late Shinzo Abe) who is an alleged war criminal due to his role in the creation of the slave economy in Manchukuo that spread across the Asia-Pacific where the Japanese conquered. Park's economic policies were modeled from the Manchukuo template and as such communicated with Kishi on the finer details. Dude is such a Japan kisser part of me thinks that his death in 1981 was partly due to his chumminess with alleged Japanese war criminals that irked a lot of South Korean nationalists; North Korea used South Korea's less than virulent stance on Japan as propaganda...

[@aznluvr7]

Without Park Chung Hee there would be no modern, rich South Korea. He overstayed his welcome for sure, but accepting loans and grants from Japan was the impetus for Korea's dynamic growth.

[@bobsnow6242]

@RedXlV Park wasn't convicted of being a Japanese collaborator, he was convicted on trumped-up charges of being an alleged communist insurgent. Which is hilariously ironic in hindsight. Funnily enough it was one of the few things the man was ever accused of that he wasn't actually guilty of.

[@hellodiamond]

It's been a long time since it turned out to be fake news

[@youwayo]

It’s amazing how Kim Il-Sung and Park Chung-hee were opponents at least twice: Korean soviet vs Japanese Collaborator and then leader of North Korea vs South Korea. But yeah, Park probably a good example of a necessary evil and him being fascinated/heavily influenced by Japan’s modernization and later war recover helped lead South Korea to be on of the 4 asian tigers.

[@butters1273]

Korea had a monarchy??? I love this channel.

[@TransKidsMafia]

My teenager wants to de transition but they already had bottom surgery. Help

[@derevianne1108]

​@@TransKidsMafiarip bozo

[@paleoph6168]

How did you think the country was ruled for centuries before being annexed by Japan?

[@mjlsx376]

@@TransKidsMafiastop mutilating children

[@Fireball_og]

Bro what

[@OwenisaProsChannelAndOwenisMJ]

I'll always watch History matter every time they upload. Their history video is entertaining.

[@james_baker]

Once again you pick a subject I didn't know I needed to know about. 😺

[@justingoodman9352]

@History Matters Do you still make the 10 minute videos as well? I absolutely love all of you content and videos and the animation of them and everything! I would get excited if you put out a 30 second video. I just find your videos so enjoyable and informative that it leaves me wanting more every time. Keep up the great work and thank you.

[@MillsTC]

Apparently he said he doesn't do 10 minute videos anymore

[@goese868]

he does not

[@noahstevenson2441]

He stopped after KZbin introduced expanded demonetization policies

[@homerj806]

There was a a Q & A vid years ago where he was pondering about continuing to do 10 minute videos or just cut them down. There was a reason why but I can't know why. Knowing the format I think the reason is if the video was that long and if he wants them monetized, then there would be commercials cutting in the middle. These commercials would ruin the flow of the 10 min videos.

[@mrterp04]

@@homerj806he said that a few of his ten minute vids were demonetized which ruined his income for a month. With more shorter vids the risk is much more spread out.

[@user-lc8md2ji4n]

As korean I would like to leave some comment here. First many Koreans don’t want monarchy back and not likely happen in near future. Since dynamic and harsh modern history about democracy under long military dictatorship and monarchy like North Korea, Koreans think their democratic government isn’t something to gave up easily or to change form. To change Korea’s constitution we require the vote. However since the monarchy isn’t popular in Korea for following reasons it’s won’t happen at all. The major problem in Korea is that Korea’s last king Gojong is mainly blamed for late modernization efforts and made the country compulsory annexed by Japan empire. Also even under colonial era Japan empire made Chosun royal family as Chosun aristocrats to follow Japan empire. As wish of Japan empire royal family didn’t resist to them. At this point Koreans never think those royal family positively and these is why there isn’t any political movement for restoration of monarchy.

[@GuildsmanPirate]

Ironically, functionally it could be argued North Korea has a monarchy with the Kim Dynasty

[@slrsms]

Great 😊

[@jonathanwebster7091]

An *absolute monarchy.

[@neonach3885]

There Is a Joke Flying araund that says. "Kim Decided to have a Monarchy in Communism"

[@slrsms]

@@neonach3885 Technically true since communism itself bears kind of absolutism or "one way thinking" and discrediting all "possible others" and dictates one dimensional legality!

[@Avo7bProject]

North Korea has had a fairly lengthy "autocratic dynasty" among others in recent history. Two successful transfers of power. The other examples that I can think of being Haiti (Duvaliers) and Syria (Assads) which each had 1 transfer of power.

[@navdhillon7912]

Thanks for another year of great content.

[@bangmo7]

Koreans under the Japanese rule felt that the dynasty sold out the country to Japan from 1905 to 1910. There was a massive peaceful uprising in 1919 and three 'temporary in-exile governments' were organized. All of these temporary in-exile goverments were for a republican state. Every one of these three designated Dr. Rhee as its head. At the end of 1919, three temparary in-exile governemnts united and form a single one. After the independece in 1948, the Republic confiscated all the property of the dynasty which had been protected by the Japanese. Probably Korea is the only country which made the dynasty 'penny-less' without beheading any one in the royal family.

[@ecemilgun9867]

As far as I know a quite similar story happened with turkey during WW1: turkey almost lost its independence, threw the royal family out of the country rather than killing them and founded a republic

[@Marco-pe1tt]

A short video on the fall of Maximilien Robespierre? Excellent content as always and Happy New Year to everyone!

[@JA432123]

Welcome back to another episode of: Questions I never thought to ask but are very very interesting

[@Rushmoom9541]

Former royal dynasty members of Korea was treated very well in Japanese Empire. Even they are served as highest aristocratic class, lower than Japanese imperial family but higher than typical Japanese nobility. And they did nothing meaningful effort for independence of Korea. That is why people's feelings toward the royal family have changed to contempt, and the political movement of the restoration of the monarchy has been completely destroyed during the colonial period of 35 years, which is relatively short compared to other countries.

[@daekwankim]

yeah no..... you need to read some histories on how isolated they were and always feared for their lives.

[@alexlehrersh9951]

Lies

[@TV-jg2kj]

This is half true

[@user-yq9rz9lc7o]

It is true that support for the monarchy began to collapse among the Korean public, but both the 1919 March 1st Movement and the 1929 Gwangju Student Anti-Japanese Movement, which were the largest independence movements during Korea's Japanese rule, were in the aftermath of the deaths of Korea's kings, Gojong and Sunjong. It means support for the monarchy appears to have remained strong until at least the early to mid-1930s.

[@Karznax]

"treated very well" lmao no. remember when the japanese assassinated the queen of Korea? Does that sound like "treated very well" to you?

[@augustvonmackensen3902]

Video suggestion: “How did the great powers react to the partitions of Poland?”

[@enisra_bowman]

which one?

[@pandani199]

@@enisra_bowmanyes

[@Ruhrpottpatriot]

Answer: "Oh no! Anyway..."

[@Vlashr]

Well Napoleon came and kind of rebuild Poland so France probably don't like the partitions

[@augustvonmackensen3902]

@@Vlashr I can’t quite remember but i seem to recall some events going on in France in between the partitions and the creation of the DoW. Hence assuming Napoleon’s policies reflected the views of France when the partitions happened seems a bit sketchy.

[@nik65stgt60]

Great content!

[@dacreepyarcher]

Great video!

[@HellbirdIV]

Apparently there's an entire subgenre of South Korean TV Dramas that are about the Korean Royal family - basically taking place in various 'Alternate History' worlds where Korea's monarchy was either reestablished, or never abolished. I don't know why, it just seems to be something they think is neat for drama, I guess. Meanwhile, North Korea, not to be undone, just made themselves a Monarchy IRL, just with the serial numbers filed off.

[@inconemay1441]

Either that or lots of back and forth Isekai time travel romance

[@ajzmn3538]

Oh, don't worry. They already have a monarch and a class of nobility. Emperor Lee Jae-Yong from the House of Samsung and the numerous Chaebols running RoK are more powerful than most monarchs could ever dream of.

[@prunprun3803]

Do your king go to jail when new president elected?

[@Karznax]

they still became victims of government when the socialist president and party took over.

[@user-zp3zu7ud4g]

I'm Korean. What does this mean? Is this just a joke?

[@MCsCreations]

Fascinating!

[@Peydonary]

Love every one of these videos

[@rbalsdldiify]

As a Korean, I will just give you a simple answer: it was a dynasty that has failed to show us what the leadership and courage is. So we just decided to ditch them after the war. If the members of the dynasty have ever showed some decent behaviours during the Korean hard times of late 19c and early 20c, they might have been living with proper titles until this day like Romanians do with their last dyanastic members, if not necessarily with crown.

[@Marconius6]

Yeah imagine a modern day Korea with some kind of hereditary position of Leader who wields absolute power and is worshipped practically as a god... that'd be ridiculous!

[@sizanogreen9900]

also imagine it claiming to be a "democratic peoples republic" and *COMMUNIST* at the same time. Couldn't make this up.

[@jeremykraenzlein5975]

Most Communist countries are officially named "People's Republics", including the largest one, the "People's Republic of China" (mainland China, not to be confused with simply the "Republic of China", an actual republic but one which only controls the island of Taiwan).

[@hirocheeto7795]

They don't worship him as a god. This kind of exoticization of the plights of North Korea make it difficult for people to properly empathize with them.

[@doujinflip]

In the South that throne went to a corporate "person" named Samsung.

[@sizanogreen9900]

@@doujinflip isn't samsung still ruled by an undead? Almost as wild.

[@ataturk5381]

Great video

[@masterchinese28]

Always happy when a History Matters video drops! I remember when I lived in France in the early 90's that we knew a guy who had this favorite symbol that he drew all over the place and had a patch on his backpack. It was later that he was a "loyalist" who wanted there to be a king in France. I guess you find all types everywhere.

[@ShredPhred]

While my knowledge of Korean history is mostly augmented by kdramas, my understanding was that the Korean monarchy was not particularly beloved by the common people and the government was rife with corruption and patronage since the early 1800's. Joseon's independence and right to self determination was sold out to the highest bidders by the nobility, wealthy families and collaborators. It's kind of disgusting to think about what some Koreans did to their own people for the sake of their own survival but it was a sad and complicated era.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

Imagine how the common Polish people feel when their nobility sold Poland during the First Partition...

[@ShredPhred]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 many countries, empires and dynasties that have fallen were betrayed from within. Many times all it took was to literally bribe the gate keeper and let the enemy in. Sometimes the people were led to believe that life for them would be better if they overthrow or betray their own government and let the foreigners rule and administer them. Don't be surprised that It's happening today.

[@ygthemoth9425]

Common in east asia actually, one of the main reasons the monarchy in Vietnam got abolished was due to them essentially selling out to the French.

[@zimriel]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 probably why the Church was so strong in Poland, that was the only institution which even pretended to care about Poles.

[@ryjitarose5590]

There actually still is a great feeling of monarcho-sympathism in Joseon, they love their dramas with them a lot and once a poll was hold and most were even pro-monarchy but ultimately didn't restore the Great Joseon Empire. I'm not sure as for exactly why but I think it was because they had a good economy or because they couldn't choose a sucessor from the House of Yi, it's either Yi Seok or Yi Won

[@SMiki55]

They have House of Kim now

[@user-zp3zu7ud4g]

South Korea's economy was not as good as North Korea's, of course, not now. The reason is that since the Provisional Government, we have been trying to establish a republic.

[@GabrielMartinez-ch1ru]

The animations of your videos are great. Could I know how you make them? Thank you, have a really nice day.

[@bozimmerman]

Sometimes I think the reading of his patron crazy names at the end is the best part.

[@floydlooney6837]

reminds me of a Korean series where they still had a monarchy. "Goong" aka "Princess Hours". Still a good one, although they can have done it in half the episodes.

[@Firmus777]

Have you thought about doing a video about different names for Korea? I at least find it fascinating how both states in the peninsula see Korea as a divided country, but they call it by different names which are references to different dynasties in the past.

[@Isl33p]

Yes, Hanguk from South Korea came from the three Hans, a word originating from the steppe nomads. The Steppe nomad's version is Khan. So Hanguk could be roughly translated into 'the khanate.'

[@nathanngumi8467]

Very interesting!

[@CARL_093]

Very good topic

[@dhk117rp]

That crown you use at the end is a crown of Silla, not Joseon. it is probably the most iconic Korean crown, but still anachronistic since that's from the 6th century

[@floydlooney6837]

Yes, not many people were aware that ancient Korea had many different "nations", sometimes 3 or 4 at the same time.

[@zimriel]

@@floydlooney6837 in this thread I learnt that the Kims are descendants of Silla's royals, but now they are royals in the north (Goryo).

[@nikolaytsankov9066]

2:25 - Is this the first time we've seen a skull in a History Matters video? I think it might be

[@noahkarpinski1824]

You should do a video about the Hussite War

[@adamben-shimon7513]

James must donate a lot of money to this channel. He is thanked in all the videos.

[@user-kt8yp5ho2y]

2:15 Ironically Syngman Rhee is also a descendant of the Yi dynasty of Korea.

[@KaotikBOOO]

Allegedly. The basis of the claim could easily have been forged like a lot of documents under his dictatorship Could be true or could be part of the cult of personality he built up

[@Argentvs]

I recommend everyone to watch the Last Princess, a recent SKorea. Movie starring the terrific actress Son Ye Jin as the last princess of Joseon forced to live in Japan as a hostage and married to a Japanese. She lost her children to US bomb raids and lived in poverty until some people found her and it took many years for the SKorean gov to pay attention to her and authorize repatriation. She was received at the airport, as an old lady, by the last survivors of the royal court service staff. A truly sad history of an innocent girl abused by power plays.

[@chrisgorman1652]

I’ll second that. The movie does have “artistic license” on some facts (like all ‘based on a true story’ movies). However, it does highlight the tragic life that the princess had.

[@BadgerOfTheSea]

People kind of brush over the fact that South Korea was also a dictatorship, just one that wasn't communist so the west was fine with it. South Vietnam was the same.

[@GaionSputro]

U.s.a "double standard"

[@frostnova8300]

Cool! Last video of the year

[@quadesmith2988]

I enjoyed this episode.

[@alejandrotoro9676]

I love the fact I was literally reading about the Korean monarchy yesterday 😅🇰🇷

[@historyreligionea]

I enjoyed this video. I do want to add one thing. It does sound strange for the Korean King to declare himself an emperor and Korea an empire when his position was so weak. However, by doing so he was emphasizing that Korea was not subordinate to China and Japan, both of which had emperors at the time. The Koreans being ruled by a king traditionally showed a kind of ritual subjugation to the Ming/Qing empires. So in part it was a way of asserting legal equality and Korea's independence.

[@notthefbi7932]

Just love all the James puns on these videos they never get old 😂😂😂😂😂

[@Valkyireenlisted]

Yay new vid

[@HaydenVBeckett]

At 0:34, who are the other two emperors? I think they’re supposed to be Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, and Faustin I of Haiti, but I’m not fully sure.

[@zimriel]

there's also that clown who took over the Central African Republic as its "Emperor". Ethiopia, has several cases for being "Empire": 1. it is highly multiethnic and 2. it is very large. it only looks small on a Mercator projection. 3. it is ancient.

[@user-lg1bd7mi9g]

Fun Fact: Syngman Rhee was actually directed from the royal family of the Joseon Dynasty

[@akamiguelsanchez9985]

Happy Holiday to you, James Bisonette and Spinning Three Plates

[@stephenguerin2955]

will you do an end of year qna?

[@OrangeT3am]

Cambodia going from a monarchy, communist, republic and back to monarchy could be a video

[@zimriel]

I think Bulgaria's king came back as President of Bulgaria. ... I'm told he did a bad job and the voters fired him.

[@theconqueringram5295]

Even though there two Koreas aren't monarchies, Kim Il Sung established a system that is monarchy-ish north of the 38th parallel.

[@nphrandalcolt8719]

I love answers to questions I never bothered to ask

[@sc3304]

There seemed to be some inter marriage between Chinese royal dynasties and Goreyo / Chosun. Not really with Japan

[@irishgodfatherchris]

Here's another thing Rhee also was, he was an ardent Korean ethnonationalist, this is despite the fact that from 1934 until his death 31 years later he was married to Francesca Donner who was an Austrian.

[@zimriel]

gentlemen prefer blondes, and Rhee was a supreme gentleman

[@maclain728]

Gotta say I’m a fan of constitutional monarchies, even if it’s just symbolism (the best kind of monarchy imo) it adds some national flair and a continuation feel. Now “continuation of history” may not sound like the best idea in some places but I think it’s important to acknowledge history and show the improvements now compared to then

[@8Hshan]

Now that you say that I've realised that it could work in a funny way in Poland. The president is already a mostly representative figure (although having some legal power), so with very little change that position could be adapted to a king. Who could very well be elected too, as Poland was an elective monarchy for a few hundred years. And we could still keep the same name of the country, because the first "Rzeczpospolita" (currently we have the third) was that elective monarchy seen as a "republic of nobles" ("rzeczpospolita" in a literal sense means republic, but nowadays is used only for Polish states, modern and historic).

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

​@@8HshanNobody in Poland wants the return of the system of Government that allowed the First Partition of Poland or the dudes that said "Yes" to the partition. The Partition of Poland wouldn't go as smoothly had not many of the nobles in the Sejm agreed to it for their own personal gains...

[@8Hshan]

@@theotherohlourdespadua1131 Did I say otherwise? I was only commenting on a curious aspect of that hypothetical scenario happening in Poland.

[@felipesernatoro9244]

with the way things are handled there with the chaebols, it kind of still is, just morphed.

[@armyaj]

I always wait for the video just to hear james bizzonette haha

[@ElArgelinoBasado1962]

Fun fact:Korea once had an alliance with the turks against China

[@ElDomador04]

LOL. I wanna know more.

[@islammehmeov2334]

​@@ElDomador04Dring the GOKTURK EMPIRE the KINGDOM OF GOKURYO were allied against the Tang

[@nashkirathegreat]

​@@ElDomador04Early contact can be traced back to antiquity, when the Göktürks had supported ancient Goguryeo, a Korean kingdom, during their expansion and also assisted them against Tang Chinese forces. As both Göktürks and Goguryeo were threatened by Tang dynasty of China, they formed a political, economical, and military alliance. Göktürk soldiers assisted Goguryeo in many battles, including in the war against Silla, another Korean kingdom. Sc: Wikipedia

[@ElDomador04]

@@nashkirathegreat 😮

[@johnmcmacer1482]

@@ElDomador04 Goguryeo and the Gokturks were two nations in the late antiquity periods, gokturks a turkic kingdom and goguryeo a Korean kingdom as said above. While they were allied, it was never a solid enough bond to argue that they were "blood brothers" or something deeper. It was strategic, and while some like to romanticize it a lot, it was indeed an alliance born out of neccessity whose legacy can be stretched for cool history. Korean and turkic relations havent always been so cordial, early turkics often raided Koreanic kingdoms and empires, who in turn invaded them and subjugated them. Likewise turkic people were conscripted by the chinese to help fight Korea many times.

[@laevyr9023]

Maybe this is a bit far-fetched, but couldn't we consider that there is technically a dynastic monarchy in North Korea since 1991? The Supreme Popular Assembly abolished the election of the Supreme Leader then, and codified succession laws for the role of Supreme Leader which aren't that very different from traditional agnatic-cognatic dynastic succession. Of course this is certainly NOT a proper monarchy in name or form, but the concept of a singular recipient of executive power designated by birth hasn't completely vanished from the peninsula.

[@jbshiva865]

It's not far-fetched at all, North Korea is on it's third member of the Kim family as the absolute ruler of North Korea and recently Kim Jong Un had heart surgery and it was universally expected that his sister would takeover if the surgery went wrong. At this point North Korea is an absolute monarchy in all but name, it just has some leftover Communist gloss to keep the Soviets and now PR China happy.

[@flavius5722]

Yes its a absolute monarchy to this day

[@night6724]

@@flavius5722No it isn’t it’s a republic

[@night6724]

Um no not at all. First off, they abolished the position of president after Kim Il Sung’s death declaring him the eternal president and then established the supreme leader position and believe it or not it is in fact elected and they do have elections every 5 years. They also have a parliament which is comprised of 3 major political parties. So no it isn’t a monarchy

[@flavius5722]

@@night6724 A republic its supposed to have elective represatatives , North Korea dosent help any elections at all and the constitution say very clar that any future leader will be a member of Kim family

[@Mrgodzilla1990]

They should've went with a James Bissonocracy. My man James Bissonette is so dedicated that running a country just seems perfect for him.

[@nice_ol_history]

Nice

[@josephosheavideos3992]

Given the psuedo-dynastic nature of the Kim family's dictatorship of North Korea, one could argue that "monarchy" was re-established in the so-called "People's Republic of Korea."

[@YoussefDaanBenAmor]

A question than i carry around frequently like with for example the Vietnamese monarchy!

[@jacobpetote6514]

History Matters posting a video shortly after I’ve wondered the same thing has happened way to many times to me

[@fatdaddyeddiejr]

Happy New Year's to you all!!!

[@RapinatorOhYeah]

Technically there is a Monarchy in korea. Just with different name

[@DrHydra47]

It probably didnt help the fact that Yi Un was also a general in the imperial japanese army which werent a popular group of people in asia after a few years The man was raised more as a japanese than a korean

[@connor1734]

That is an awesome Crown!

[@muhammadhabibieamiro3639]

Another amazing video

[@Alex_FRD]

Imagine a neutral, unified Korean monarchy. Time to play HoI again.

[@yuyoshida7359]

Idk if they’d be neutral man, gotta be some beef with the Japanese

[@WilliamAndrea]

hehe, the sign at 2:36 "If you are a communist we ask that you stay north and not invade."

[@Vinemaple]

Oh. Duh. After WW2. I coulda figured that out. Still, it's always fun to see how History Matters frames it!

[@prettypic444]

Loved the five year plan joke

[@JamesMartin-jr8vv]

If Korea were ever to reunite, a constitutional monarchy that re-establishes this dynasty might be a good idea to help foster unity. The shared history and culture is pretty much the only thing the North and the South have in common anymore, so putting it at the forefront while settling political, sociological, and economic differences might make things a little easier. I could be wrong of course. Just a thought.

[@jacobayers2391]

The yi dyansty is a total joke in Korea not only have their actions after the foundation of the Republic of Korea have been highly embarrassing to Koreans a lot of Koreans see them as incompetent to stop the Japanese annexation by refusing to modernize when Japan was rapidly doing so some also see the family as collaborators and puppets of the Japanese

[@zefft.f4010]

I think this could only work if there was some degree of sentimentality toward the royals on both sides of the border. That doesn't seem to be the case in the South and while it's difficult to know the attitude in the North in a post-DPRK future, I very much doubt they would be amenable to monarchy. In constitutional monarchies in Europe (I live in one) the only real reason we still keep them around is for sentimental reasons and that they are largely uncontroversial. If they had, say, sold out the country to the Germans during the war there is no way they would ever be invited back and ousting them would likely be a lot more popular.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

Doubtful. Ever heard of the Ten Eula Traitors? Almost all of independent Korea's top government officials sold Korea to the Japanese when agree to sign the 1908 Treaty of Eula which practically placed Korea under Japanese administration... all done behind Emperor Gojong's back. Along with the fact that the Korean Royal family is not ethnically fully Korean (due to Japanese machinations), there is no way they be amenable to any monarchy...

[@correctionguy7632]

@@zefft.f4010 I mean, north korea is already a monarchy.

[@zefft.f4010]

​@@correctionguy7632 It's dynastic, for sure. Might be a contributing reason why they wouldn't want a monarchy. Or why they would. It's difficult to know what attitudes decades of brainwashing would produce. Maybe they would demand another dictatorship, maybe it would be like a Stockholm Syndrome type situation, but I very much doubt they would accept the old monarchy as their dictators either way. More likely they'd want another Kim, or a new Jucheist dynasty or a classic Marxist-Leninist chairman-for-life type deal.

[@unquietthoughts]

Some of the former royal family members high- or low-key collaborated with the colonisers, and most of the independence activists were like "Hell nah!" and decided their exile government as a republic. At the same time, monarchist independence movement did exist e.g. Uigunbu (義軍府, Righteous Army Command), but it eventually died out during the late 1910s~1920s, as the two emperors of the former Korean Empire have passed away in 1919 and 1926 respectively. Nevertheless, the former royal family still exists, and to this day, they perform rites historically performed by the royal palace to.

[@dirtiestharry6551]

For all the years watching this channel, I never imagined I would see Yougchinwang(Yi Un) running on flower fields screaming "Treason!" lol

[@marygillmeister6013]

Very interesting. I didn't know anything about the former monarchy in Korea