WI Concurrent Japanese & Korean "Meiji Restorations"?

Let's say both Japan and Korea kick into high gear around the same time—what happens?

A fight over China?

They go their separate ways? Korea goes into China, Japan goes off to the Pacific?

What happens with Russia?

Is the Japanese treatment of the Taiwanese (i.e. great) their future standard as they gather some sort of colonial empire in the Pacific/parts of China or do they shift as in OTL to their treatment of Koreans (i.e. very nasty)?

Likewise, if the Koreans bite off a big chunk of China how will they treat their new subjects?



As long as we're adding a Meiji type Korea, what about Thailand? They were closest to pulling it together after Japan—what if they to pull a Meiji? (Their problem was being stuck with both the French and the British, playing them off against each other, and gradually trading territory for independence.)

What does having two or three advanced Asian nations do to the rest of the world?

(I leave out China because an early modernized China presents a fairly obvious answer, plus it gets discussed a lot anyway.)

(This thread was sort of related)
 
Well, if you can find a way to butterfly away the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, that would be something. Also, the Japanese occupation of Taiwan was, let's say for lack of a better word, exceptional (since Japan wanted to make Taiwan a "model colony").
 
Isolate, eliminate or reduce the power of the isolationist prince regent Heungseon Daewongun and enhance the power of the Queen Min. With reduced isolationism, Korea might establish friendly diplomatic and trade relations with the French, Americans and Japanese from the 1860's onwards. Korea modernises and develops a modern education system though it is a long struggle against remaining conservative elements. A Korean Empire is declared earlier than our history. Basically its just taking what were very real trends in Korean history and removing an early impediment.

I could even see Korea fighting a war with the Qing in lieu of the Sino-Japanese War. The casus belli being the Korean declaration of empire, and the Koreans supplied and abetted by Japan and some Western powers. Old Korean claims to regions of Manchuria could see conquest of those regions. I would definately think that in the long term Korea and Japan would be almost natural enemies, however they may spend a long time trying to carve out rival spheres of influence in China. The Russia factor I'm not sure about, but they could in fact become chummy with Japan against Korea, or chummy with Korea against Japan and the Qing. It's hard to say.
 
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