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Almost any child can tell you that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, has a wonderful fleet of reindeer (led by that red-nosed wonder, Rudolph) and delivers toys and presents to good little children all around the world.
But when did he first come to Korea?
We know that one of the earliest Christmases to be celebrated in Korea was at Horace N. Allen’s house (said to be haunted by ghosts other than the spirit of Christmas) in December 1884.
It was a dismal one. The recent violence of the Kapsin Revolt had caused most of the small Western community in Seoul to flee. Allen’s gift for his wife had been stolen or destroyed when the post office was ransacked. Undoubtedly, Santa decided not to make a personal appearance.
Christmas was celebrated in subsequent years but unfortunately they appear to have been small events — mainly family gatherings — and those involving Koreans were usually religious in nature.
One of the earliest references to Santa appears to have been in 1895 when Allen’s son, Maurice, was delighted to discover a set of ice skates under the family’s Christmas tree. His mother explained to the excited young boy that Santa had brought the gift at the request of the son of a minister to Korea. John Sill, the minister, wrote:
“Maurice came over, and with his usual grandiloquent air, said ‘he had come to ask me to thank Mr. Jo (his son) for writing a letter to Santa Claus and asking him to send them such a nice present. It hardly seems possible that a boy his age to really believe in such a thing, but he appeared most innocent.”
Unlike Maurice, children in the foreign community at Wonsan did get a chance to actually meet Santa. During a Christmas party in 1896, Santa, “robed in scarlet mounted with beautiful snow cotton” arrived at the home of James F. Oiesen, a Dane and the Commissioner of Customs at that port. Despite his long journey “from the snowy North,” Santa managed to make time to read the children Christmas stories while dining on plum pudding, popcorn balls, candy and other delicacies. What should have been a joyful event quickly turned into a nightmare.
“(Santa) had not finished his stories to the children, when by an accidental twitch of the hand the cotton took fire and in a moment he was infolded in a mass of flames.”
Apparently, Santa managed to stumble out of the room and shed his burning clothes, suffering nothing more than a severely burned hand. A witness to the event noted that “it was a moment of intense excitement. And after all was over the frightened children scarcely knew what to make out of ‘Old Santa,’ that he should take his departure in a burning flame like that.”
Santa eventually recovered and by 1898 began making regular visits to Seoul. Large Christmas parties were held at the Seoul Union where, much to the delight of the children — Western and Korean — Santa would make a guest appearance and hand out gifts to one and all. Despite the passage of more than a century and the progress of technology, Santa continues to be one of the most beloved holiday personalities around the world.
Tonight, children will go to sleep dreaming of the toys and gifts that will greet them in the morning — proof of Santa’s visit. The magic of Christmas lives on.
Robert Neff is a contributing writer for The Korea Times.
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