AH Challenge: Make Korea into a major Empire

Rather simple. Have them adopt muskets before the Japanese Invasions (late 1500s), and have them completely break the back of the Japanese, redividing the country and taking territory.
 
Were Muskets readily available to them at the time?

They would have been expensive because the Koreans did not produce them yet, but the POD in this scenario would be the suggestion from a member of the court (this is OTL) to begin production of muskets was not ignored.
 
So what Korea invades and conquers Japan? Dont they still have to deal with China?

China probably wouldn't have had the capacity to invade Japan (the Ming were very weak at this time), and to neither would Korea. Japan would collapse, undoing the unification that the shoguns had so painstakingly crafted. Korea could get territory simply by getting involved in the Japanese civil war.
 
China probably wouldn't have had the capacity to invade Japan (the Ming were very weak at this time), and to neither would Korea. Japan would collapse, undoing the unification that the shoguns had so painstakingly crafted. Korea could get territory simply by getting involved in the Japanese civil war.

Oh so does Korea like take parts of Machuria and evolve to the Power of Japan or become a China? I hope you get the references.
 
Oh so does Korea like take parts of Machuria and evolve to the Power of Japan or become a China? I hope you get the references.

It's almost midnight here, and I just got back from a party, so I barely remember my own name, let alone any references.

But in essence, yes.
 
It's almost midnight here, and I just got back from a party, so I barely remember my own name, let alone any references.

But in essence, yes.
A Uruguayan party? You've had your shots, yes?


I'd recommend the classic "Korea pulls a Meiji," and just have them westernize like Japan did in OTL. They'd have slightly different aims than Japan, mind you, so it wouldn't be a complete role-reversal. Major territorial expansion into Manchuria would be more likely than making a puppet state out of it, and I'd more expect them to simply make sure Japan buggers off than annex them or anything.
 
Korea (well, Korean states) enjoyed periods of regional dominance both in Japan and northern China at times (to the point Chinese historians are now trying to sell us on the idea Goguryeo was a Chinese state dominating northern korea...). Pick any one of them and extend them. I worked with the Japanese episode and expended it into a Sillawank in 'Gaosen Wars' (Korea is referred to as Joseon, but I don't actually mean this to be OTL's Joseon dnyasty).
 
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