Contributor
Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
Although 19th-century Korea is often referred to as the “Hermit Kingdom,” a land relatively unknown to Westerners, it is surprising how many famous (or infamous — depending upon your view) people traveled through the country. One of these visitors was Philo Norton McGiffin.
Traditionally, animals were often seen in Korea as harbingers of doom or omens of hope and good fortune. Foxes were often associated with evil acts while magpies enjoyed a more favorable image. It is easy to dismiss these tales as superstitions of the past but it might surprise you to learn that South Korea’s first president, Syngman Rhee, regarded an enormous turtle as a positive omen for the country.
In the spring of 1888, the HMS Constance began printing its own newspaper called The Ferret. This newspaper provided an interesting perspective of life aboard a British warship and was filled with scuttlebutt, advice and, of course, anonymous complaints.
Concerned about Russia's growing influence in Korea, three British warships sailed into Geomun-do, a small group of islands off the southern coast of Korea, on April 15, 1885, and began a two-year "preventive occupation" in which a garrison named Port Hamilton was established.
Some of my fondest memories of Korea occurred on trains.
A recent article appearing in The Korea Times announced the opening of a photo exhibition illuminating the 70 years of friendship between Korea and Greece. While it is true the diplomatic relationship between the two countries is fairly recent, there have been Greeks residing in Korea for over 120 years.
In the fall of 1900, Seoul was temporarily graced by an intrepid English doctor named Ella Campbell Scarlett. Like many of these temporary presences in the Land of the Morning Calm, we know very little about her stay in Korea, but, judging from Horace N. Allen, the ever-cranky American minister to Korea, she was quite the character.
“Old sayings are generally shadows of skeletons of things that once had a being,” declared a newspaper article from the late 1880s. The article was about a Korean artifact that had been added to the Smithsonian Institution's collection and was on display. The artifact was, of course, a jaewoong, a doll made from rice straw with some Korean coins (cash) placed within its stomach.
Today is the Korean Lunar New Year and children throughout the country are busy bowing down before their parents, relatives and even elder siblings in hopes of obtaining some New Year money. It is a cherished tradition that is likely to be practiced for many more years, but not all New Year’s traditions survived.
In the early 1900s, streetcars were a ubiquitous sight in Seoul as they raced through the streets. Different people viewed them in different ways. To some, they were symbols of modern technology, the awakening of the Hermit Kingdom. To others they were vehicles of liberation. They were greatly responsible for the end of the nightly curfew and the closing of the gates. They helped free women from the social-enforced segregation of their homes. They transported people of all classes, gender and ages.