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Kim Ji-myung

How big is a 'kan'?

One big difficulty that researchers of Korean history face is the issue of units. Length, area, weight, volume and time seem to have been measured by a variety of standards, depending on periods and areas. Old records tell us that most unit systems were made in ancient China and spread to Korea and other neighboring countries. In the case of “pyeong” to measure land and field space, it was exported to Japan during the Three Kingdoms period as a unit of 3.158 square meters as used in the ancient Korean kingdom of Goruryeo and Tang China. Later it was introduced back to Korea by Japan as 3.305...

2015-05-08 16:59

PyeongChang and Nagano

I am not an expert in implementing a world-class sports event or in the budgeting of big events like the Olympics or the World Cup. Somehow, I was born ignorant in managing money and sports - watching and doing.

2015-04-10 16:53

On VIP security service

In the still-dark hour of 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 4, 1993, I arrived at the Seattle ferry dock. The boat that would take the 15 heads of state and their entourage to Blake Island was going to leave at 8 a.m.

2015-03-13 17:02

World's oldest metal type

Carbon dating of ink on Goryeo Kingdom's movable metal type has confirmed that 21 of the characters dated between 1033 and 1155, according to a recent announcement by the National Institute of Cultural Heritage. This means the "Song of Enlightenment" (Jeungdoga in Korean and Zhengdao-ge in Chinese) was printed around the 11th or 12th century, as the book was printed with this type. This movable type, therefore, has been called Jeongdoga type, attracting keen attention from Korean academia.

2015-02-13 16:58

A pioneer heritage guide

He was travelling with a friend and his dog in his four-wheel-drive jeep. It was in the autumn of 1969. We - five college girls from the Yonsei English Department - stayed a night at a farmer's home near Magoksa Temple.

2015-01-16 17:06

Presenting heritage in English

On so many occasions I have raised the issue of writing properly about Korea in English. A new dimension that needs to be added now is “digital.” Most material in hard copy, even if it has been translated from Korean, reaches only a tiny part of the world audience. If we are serious about transferring information about the history, culture and people of Korea to a bigger worldwide population, we should present it in English and through digital media. This seems obvious, but it is hard to implement.

2014-12-19 16:49

Collection reveals history

A short article appeared in the miscellaneous news section on page three of the Hangeul (Korean alphabet) pages of the Daehan Maeil Sinbo, or Korea Daily News, on Aug. 28, 1910.The same article appeared in the pages of mixed Korean-Chinese characters.

2014-11-21 16:56

A 16-century letter in Hangeul

Is everyone doing well in this freezing cold?

2014-10-24 16:51

Meeting Confucius today

I hope I am wrong. But we Koreans in general are very straightforward, open-minded, blunt and confident about what we believe. You may agree that Koreans have rapidly become more globalized and sophisticated.

2014-09-26 16:55

Christianity and Japan

Pope Francis' recent visit to South Korea has drawn more attention to his role and influence of religion on the state, both past and present. Looking back, the history of Christianity in Korea, China and Japan sharply contrast from one another, much like their national histories from the modern era.

2014-08-29 17:09

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