The Korea Times

Rolling through time: A history of bowling in Korea

“From time immemorial the sport of bowling has held a place in the pastimes of mankind, not as prominently in past centuries as in the present, but sufficiently to warrant notice in the chronicles of the ancients,” declared the Spalding Athletic Library in an 1892 issue dedicated to bowling. To support this claim, the magazine somewhat irrelevantly noted that Romans hurled stones “upon the heads or breasts of their foes.”

Nov 17, 2024By Robert Neff

Rolling through time: A history of bowling in Korea

Opinion

Wonsan - A stamp of disapproval: Part 2

In the summer of 1900, Francis Arthur Coleridge, a 30-year-old Englishman with the Indian Civil Service, made a brief visit to Wonsan aboard the Japanese steamship Tarien Maru. Coleridge had a keen eye for detail and a deft pen in describing the port — its charms and vexations. There were things that he found intriguing and quaint, while others struck him as frustrating, yet amusing — the Korean post office being one of the latter.

Nov 9, 2024By Robert Neff

Opinion

Wonsan: A stamp of disapproval: Part 1

In the early years of the twentieth century, Wonsan was, for the most part, merely a brief stopover for steamships traveling between Shanghai, Vladivostok and Japanese ports. It was one of those places that travelers occasionally mentioned in their travelogues but rarely devoted much ink to describing. Fortunately for us, Francis Arthur Coleridge was an exception.

Nov 2, 2024By Robert Neff

Opinion

Secrets within the walls

Every neighborhood has its secrets. Behind the facades of clean storefronts, tastefully decorated interiors and the busy sounds of pedestrians going to and from work or school, some buildings have dark histories. If only the walls could talk — some eventually do.

Oct 27, 2024By Robert Neff

Opinion

British consulate in Jemulpo: Bar with a view (2)

In September 1884, the Royal Oak Saloon arrived in pieces and was laboriously carried up the hill to the consulate site. However, details of its reconstruction are agonizingly absent. The port was undergoing a building spree, and manpower was scarce. The American consulate had a team of builders from Nagasaki; did the British also have a team, or did they rely upon local labor?

Oct 13, 2024By Robert Neff

British consulate in Jemulpo: Bar with a view (2)

Opinion

British consulate in Jemulpo: Bar with a view (1)

When Sir Harry Parkes visited Jemulpo (modern-day Incheon) in the spring of 1883, he had almost nothing positive to say. The port, he observed, was nothing more than a collection of “wretchedly-built huts,” and there were no signs of trade or industry. He noted, “the surrounding country yields barely sufficient rice for the consumption of its small population.”

Oct 12, 2024By Robert Neff

British consulate in Jemulpo: Bar with a view (1)

Opinion

The curse of the ginkgo

Once again, it is ginkgo season in Korea, and there are various websites touting the best places in Seoul – and across the country – to see this iconic tree in the beauty of its stunning autumn colors. Considering there are more than 102,700 ginkgo trees in Seoul, it should not be that difficult to find the perfect one for an Instagram picture.

Oct 5, 2024By Robert Neff

Opinion

A boy's life in Joseon

Anna Northend Benjamin’s observations and venomous pen were not confined to just Korean women; she also commented on the lives of Korean children — more specifically, boys.

Sep 23, 2024By Robert Neff

Opinion

Korean women's clothing in the past: A mark of honor

Described as "a dowdy female newspaper correspondent," Anna Northend Benjamin traveled extensively throughout East Asia and Russia documenting her experiences and observations. She was blessed with an amazing gift of writing, though, depending upon the reader, her harsh opinions could be seen as a curse. Despite spending less than a fortnight in Korea during the summer of 1900, she wrote enough about the Hermit Kingdom to rankle Horace N. Allen, the conservative American minister to Korea.

Sep 22, 2024By Robert Neff

Korean women's clothing in the past: A mark of honor

Opinion

A view of Korean women in 1900

In 1900, Anna Northend Benjamin, a popular American photojournalist, declared: “We may say without hesitation that the lot of the Korean woman is the most pitiable, just as the position of her people is the most deplorable, in the Far East.” She went on to add, “In the lower classes she must work, work, work. In the upper classes she must be entombed.”

Sep 15, 2024By Robert Neff

Robert Neff

Read more

Rolling through time: A history of bowling in Korea

Wonsan - A stamp of disapproval: Part 2

Wonsan: A stamp of disapproval: Part 1

Secrets within the walls

British consulate in Jemulpo: Bar with a view (2)

British consulate in Jemulpo: Bar with a view (1)

The curse of the ginkgo

A boy's life in Joseon

Korean women's clothing in the past: A mark of honor

A view of Korean women in 1900

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