Uncle Tom comes to Korea

This photo may not be a representation of your understanding of an Uncle Tom, but it is for a Korean...
I was having dinner with a Korean friend and we mentioned Tom Cruise's recent visit to Korea--very big deal. She said that he was so gracious and friendly, and the Korean public loved him so much, that they are calling him "Uncle Tom." I couldn't help but laugh and a rather long-winded and perhaps confusing explanation followed, in which I tried to explain the complications of American racial politics and abolitionist history. Good to know that the tradition lives on.