Opinion - The Korea Times

The 'Hwandan Gogi' controversy

Recently, at a press conference on Dec. 12, President Lee Jae Myung created a controversy by simply asking a question. He asked if the "Hwandan Gogi" should be considered as part of the research and discussions on Korean history. Sounds like an innocent question, but the response was overwhelming in condemnation of the president for even suggesting that the "Hwandan Gogi" be considered as a authentic historical document. The "Hwandan Gogi" is a document allegedly compiled in 1911 by a man named Gye Yeon-su but not published until 1979 by Yi Yu-rip. It contains four separate “gogi” — old records. (As an aside, for those of you who speak a little Korean, the word “gogi” is not your familiar food from the barbecue restaurant. There are Chinese characters for this and they mean “old” “record.”) There is scholarly unanimity about the record as a forgery and that it cannot be taken seriously. However, as soon as I say that, I can hear the chorus of objections — the “believers” in the "Hwandan Gogi" — let’s abbreviate it as HDG — come after you with a vengeance i

Dec 18, 2025By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Visiting Bukchon

Bukchon, literally "north village," is a section of Seoul that has not been destroyed by high-rise apartments, and with its charming old hanok, or traditional Korean homes, is now a fashionable and chic part of town. Nice restaurants and shops make a stroll through the old neighborhood a popular pastime these days for Seoul residents as well as tourists. I’ve been working on a presentation, to be given at the Bukchon Cultural Center, in which I’m look at a bit of the culture and background of the old north district of central Seoul. In doing some historical research, I’ve found the meaning of some of the neighborhood names. I lived in Bukchon when I first came to Korea in 1965, 60 years ago, in Samcheong-dong. I learned then that it was named for the Samcheong Park, in the hills just north of our neighborhood. I was told that the “three clear” things referred to in the name were the water, the mountains and — although I remembered it as “air” — records say the third item is the people. Maybe air pollution was not a concern in traditional Korea. But it turns out there’

Dec 14, 2025By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Sixty years in Korea

Forgive my personal note this time, but within days of this article being published, I will celebrate 60 years since my first appearance in Korea. I first came to Korea on Nov. 22, 1965. I stayed for two-and-a-half years in that first iteration, and have returned close to one hundred times since, including other stays for study and employment, for a total of about 15 years altogether. What has changed in sixty years? The answer: everything. I remember visiting with a colleague of mine from the '60s who came back to Korea in the'90s. I had been in and out several times over those 30 years, but he was returning for the first time. I asked him what was different? What stood out as different? He responded that Korea was a completely different country. If that was true for a thirty year span, it is doubly true for a 60 year span. The one thing that I might say is the same is the people. But that’s not entirely true. The people, though holding on to some parts of Korean culture, are somewhat different. People are more self-confident these days — maybe too much so? The Korean people in the

Nov 30, 2025By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Korea’s new jokbo

Korean genealogical research is at a crossroads, although many may not know it. Family history has been embodied in what is called “jokbo." We can say that a jokbo is a kind of photograph of a society at a point in time. Typically, the jokbo that Korea knows today shows a male dominated, patrilineal family structure — but Korea is no longer a male dominant, patrilineal society. Does that mean jokbo will change? Yes — it must. As women have gained more rights and prerogatives in society, we can say the old ways of male domination are changing. Korea may not be a truly equal society yet, but it’s getting closer. Women are doing much better in areas where education makes a difference — for example, the foreign ministry recruits new diplomats on the basis of a test. In recent years, 70 percent of new hires were women. We see similar levels of success for women in other areas of government employment, and in addition, women have played stronger roles for some time in the fields of education and medicine. Whether we can argue that Korea is truly balanced in terms of gender or not, i

Nov 13, 2025By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

'KPop Demon Hunters' is really big

I’ve already written about the "KPop Demon Hunters" phenomenon, but it deserves more attention. From my point of view, it has recently crossed several thresholds, each an indicator of the power and influence of the phenomenon. Notice I call it a phenomenon, not a movie or a music soundtrack. It is a movie — a very successful one. And it is a collection of music — also very successful. But beyond that, it is truly a phenomenon. What makes me want to write more about "KPop Demon Hunters" is the fact that it has crashed into my life in several new ways. I think of it as having crossed more thresholds. Let me name them. I’ve received several emails from friends and messages on my YouTube channel that I need to prepare a video on the subject. That was the first threshold. Perhaps the most shocking one happened to me came in church on a recent Sunday — once as I was coming into the chapel, and once as I was leaving. Friends came up to me to ask me what I thought of the movie, and if I could answer some questions about it. That was a new threshold being crossed. The next threshold I n

Nov 3, 2025By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Madam 'One-eye'

I recently gave a lecture at the Institute for the Translation of Korean Classics in northern Seoul. I was humbled by the task of speaking to a room full of translators of Classic Chinese as I thought of the hours of trudging through old Korean historical texts for my dissertation, and for research thereafter. I was concerned that my poor ability to translate Chinese classics would pale in comparison to theirs. But I prepared some of my best translations and historical insights that I have found over the years and made my presentation as best I could. The lecture turned out really well, and they seemed to appreciate what I had to say. But to make it interesting, I selected one text I had toiled over for a long time. I understood the story, but wasn’t sure of its purpose or even its context. It was floating in the official history, or “sillok,” like an island. I had some conjecture about what it was doing, looking out of place in the official records, but I’ve never been satisfied that I understood what it was all about. Until yesterday, when the institute’s authority on the s

Oct 19, 2025By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

K-culture and 'KPop Demon Hunters'

Several people have asked me what I think about "KPop Demon Hunters." I’ve been reluctant to respond because my area is Korean culture, not pop culture or movies. But when there is a movie that relies on or at least touches on Korean culture, I feel more comfortable saying something. So, dragging my feet and resisting, I have finally succumbed and offer my take on the phenomenon — and it is a phenomenon, more than just a movie. The movie broke records on Netflix. Its soundtrack has been wildly popular and in-theater screenings have attracted crowds as well. It’s earning lots of money and by all measures, it’s a resounding success. Knowing this, I finally mustered the will to watch it. It wasn’t easy. My wife had watched part of it, found it dull and turned it off. And I heard it was an animation, which did not sound very appealing. But in spite of these drawbacks, I bit the bullet and watched it. To my complete surprise, I liked it. I notably enjoyed the Korean culture, in various dimensions. There were the visuals — images of Korea such as the tiled hanok roofs; black horseh

Oct 1, 2025By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

What to do about Confucianism

I was recently asked to give the keynote speech at a festival sponsored by the Institute of Korean Confucian Culture. It was a three-day event celebrating traditional culture in Korea with an emphasis on “K-yugyo,” or K-Confucianism, to fit into the Korean wave. As I have been watching the changes in Korean views of Confucianism, here is what I said: I’ve been concerned about the changing image of Confucianism in Korea today. Attitudes about Confucian practices like ancestral rites are changing, and society in general has developed attitudes about Korean Confucianism that are based on misinformation and misunderstandings. Confucianism is one of the great philosophies of the world. The values of Confucianism teach young people how to become responsible members of society. The values of respect for elders and humility are found in the idea of "hyo," or respect for one’s parents. Patriotism and love of one’s country is found in the values of "jeong," or loyalty. “In, eui, ye, ji"— these values guide society. "In" — benevolence, or treating others as you would like to be tre

Sep 14, 2025By Mark Peterson@contributor@koreatimes.co.kr

Mark Peterson

Liberation from Japan: 80 years in the rearview mirror

Aug. 15 was the 80th anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial control. How does it look now in the rearview mirror? What have we learned? As a historian of the Joseon dynasty, I cannot but look at what went wrong and what led to the Japanese takeover. As I think of it, I remember the folk saying about the pen and the sword. We are taught that the “pen is mightier than the sword,” but the paradox of that saying is that everyone knows the sword is more powerful. Yet we also know that — and this is the key — in the long run, the pen is truly more powerful. Korean history bears this out. In the short term, for temporary gains, the Japanese sword was more powerful, but in today’s world, Korea has caught up to Japan in all significant measures, and the pen is becoming mightier than the sword. Why is Japan the sword and Korea the pen? How far back does that cultural truth go? The answer is that it goes back well into history, a thousand years or more! In the early Goryeo period, in the 10th century, Korea set a course away from decentralized government, away from the hostili

Aug 24, 2025By Mark Peterson

Liberation from Japan: 80 years in the rearview mirror

Mark Peterson

Correcting Korean history

I really don’t like the title I just gave you — “correcting.” The word implies a right-or-wrong interpretation of Korean history, But it’s more complicated, more nuanced than that. Elsewhere I’ve criticized a slogan I pulled off a Korean government website that said, “Correct History.” The problem is that history is a moving object and subject to multiple interpretations, all of which can be “correct.” However, having said all that, there are some aspects of Korean history that have been widely misinterpreted. I realize I’m walking a fine line between saying that there is not a “correct” history and saying that some interpretations are just plain wrong. Let me see if I can set out some examples. Overall I think the problem is 20th-century historiography that was greatly, and negatively, influenced by Japan. That with the fact that Korea was subjugated and oppressed by Japan. There are two factors — Japan-era historians writing history from a Japanese perspective, and Korean loss of self esteem and a general attitude of defeat and self-blame for having lost t

Aug 10, 2025By Mark Peterson

Mark Peterson

Read more

The 'Hwandan Gogi' controversy

Visiting Bukchon

Sixty years in Korea

Korea’s new jokbo

'KPop Demon Hunters' is really big

Madam 'One-eye'

K-culture and 'KPop Demon Hunters'

What to do about Confucianism

Liberation from Japan: 80 years in the rearview mirror

Correcting Korean history

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