The Far East War had a tremendous impact on the region's balance of power, but its overall impact was far smaller than in Ernst's previous life. Moreover, Ernst did not hold an optimistic view of the Far East Empire's short-term prospects.
Take its Northern Fleet, for instance. Although it had not been utterly wiped out this time, its losses were still considerable. After all, its naval strength had been far greater than during the same period in history. Yet even on that basis, its losses had not been much less than in Ernst's previous life. Its sheer size meant that, all things considered, the Northern Fleet's losses this time amounted to seventy percent of those in his previous life.
Japan, as a nation, also possessed slightly stronger naval power than in Ernst's previous life. After all, its benchmark was the Far East Empire's navy. As the Far East Empire increased its number of warships, the Japanese Government had to follow suit. However, constrained by financial pressure, it had merely borrowed enough additional money from Britain to acquire three retired capital ships.
After the war, Japan could only make up that loan by squeezing Korea, since the Far East Empire's reparations this time were merely one-tenth of what they had been historically. Ernst was more than happy to see that.
Ernst bore Korea no grudge, but he certainly had no favorable impression of it. Furthermore, if Japan intensified its exploitation and oppression of Korea, it would inevitably provoke fierce resistance from the Korean people, further raising Japan's colonial costs.
Although Korea's combat strength was worrying, it was by no means comparable to Africa's indigenous peoples. If African indigenous peoples had possessed even forty percent of Korea's strength, Ernst's colonial strategy in East Africa would have been exceedingly difficult to carry out.