In 1882, three courageous American officers became the first Westerners to step foot in Busan. When the intrepid elderly British adventurer Isabella Bird Bishop visited Fusan (modern Busan) in January 1894, she declared, “It is not Korea but Japan which meets one on anchoring.” She was, of course, referring to the large population of Japanese that literally dominated the foreign settlement of that port, and, for the most part, the surrounding Korean community.
Sailors, adventurers, diplomats, and businessmen made up the initial foreign community in Chemulpo, known today as Incheon.
When American gold miners weren’t hoping to strike it rich, they were hoping not to strike out at the annual Fourth of July baseball game. One of the largest enterprises in Korea in the early 20th century was the American-owned Oriental Consolidated Mining Company (OCMC). The OCMC, often referred to...
From unwieldy pipes to black-market cigarettes, tobacco has been an important part of Korean society for over four hundred years....
We all know that students have it rough in Korea. They go to school early in the morning and then...
Modern transportation has made travel to most places in Korea, no matter how distant from Seoul, easy and comfortable. However, there are exceptions. One of these exceptions is Ulleung Island. Its distance from the mainland and the fickleness of the local weather often make any trip to the island one...
If you have a lot of Korean friends you have probably been invited to go to a sauna or jjimjilbang...
In 1885, Percival Lowell published a book entitled “Choson: The Land of the Morning Calm.” It was a huge success...
Cringeworthy English Moments We Know Too Well Korea Moments That Awaken Your Inner Grammar Nazi “When I see your face, there’s not a thing that I would change, ‘cause you’re amazing, just the way you are” — Walking by one of the crowded university districts one day, I heard one of...
Between the increasing regulations on hagwons and cuts in the number of middle and high school native English teachers, the...