Joseon Wangjaga Migukgatda An Doraom

A sudden cataclysm claims the life of Park Byung-Jun, a Korean-American lobbyist whose career has been built on navigating the corridors of power. In his final moment, the world goes dark—only for him to awaken as Yi Kang, the second son of Emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire, drawing breath precisely as the prince himself expires. The transition is jarring: one instant he is a modern operative of influence; the next, he is a royal scion in a decaying palace, heir to a throne that history has already marked for collapse. Yet Byung-Jun carries an impossible asset—a clear recollection of the historical currents that will soon sweep away his new homeland. Armed with this forbidden foresight, he makes a calculated decision to abandon the intrigues of the court and cross the Pacific to the United States, where the game of wealth and power follows rules he intimately understands. There, he launches an ambitious business enterprise, wielding his modern knowledge of economics, diplomacy, and market forces to accumulate a fortune that no prince of the Korean Empire could have dreamed of. But his venture is more than simple greed; it is a desperate bid to rewrite the trajectory of a nation whose destiny he already knows, and to secure a refuge against the coming storm. In the cutthroat arena of 19th-century American commerce, Yi Kang must walk a razor’s edge—concealing his regal identity while exploiting every advantage his unique perspective affords him. Every deal, every alliance, and every dollar amassed is a thread in a fragile tapestry that could either save his adoptive dynasty or seal its ruin. As he races to build an empire of his own, he discovers that wealth alone may not be enough to outrun the relentless march of history—but without it, he has no chance at all.