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Wed, December 7, 2022 | 21:46

The short-lived Russo-Korean Bank of 1898

The short-lived Russo-Korean Bank of 1898

In early December 1897, rumors began to circulate that Russia was going to attempt to take control of Korea economically - it was going to establish a bank in Seoul. On Dec. 8, J. Hunt, the commissioner of Korean Customs at Fusan, sent a missive to John Jordan, the British consul-general in Seoul, in which he reported that a Russian from Vladivostok named V.M. Koreylin would ...

2022-03-06 09:06

Yun Hui-sun, a female freedom fighter

Yun Hui-sun, a female freedom fighter

There is an old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words but is the story that it is telling the truth? When viewing an image we need context. Who were the people who appear in the picture, when and why was it taken and who was the photographer - with this information we are better able to understand what the image is trying to tell us.

2022-03-05 09:39

Korean kites: carrying away bad luck

Korean kites: carrying away bad luck

While wandering the streets of Seoul in February 1884, Percival Lowell commented about the number of large ...

2022-02-27 12:30

Korean kites: aerial battles as cornerstone of childhood

Korean kites: aerial battles as cornerstone of childhood

Korean kites: aerial battles as cornerstone of childhood

In early February 1903, the sky over every village and city in Korea was filled with kites. In Pyongyang, nine-year-old Il-han described the kites as resembling “a vast flock of gulls” dashing and whirling about, but they were not flying about aimlessly, for they all had “a real purpose” - they were the weapons in the annual kite fights. These kite fights - as well as the kit...

2022-02-26 09:10

Korean kites: carrying away bad luck

Heungseon Daewongun, the tiger with 'bowels of iron and a heart of stone'

Heungseon Daewongun, the tiger with 'bowels of iron and a heart of stone'

Tuesday, Feb. 22, 1898, was a cold, windy and gloomy day but for Alexis de Speyer, the Russian representative to Korea, it was a great day. According to him, “two very pleasant things occurred on the same night”: the attempted assassination of Kim Hong-nuik, his interpreter, and “the death of the Emperor's father” Heungseon Daewongun - a man he considered to be Russia's enemy.

2022-02-20 09:00

Assassins in Seoul's streets in 1898: Kim Hong-nuik

Assassins in Seoul's streets in 1898: Kim Hong-nuik

Arguably, one of the most hated men in Seoul in 1898 was Kim Hong-nuik, the interpreter at the Russian legation. Horace N. Allen, the American minister to Korea, described Kim as “a very common and uneducated man, unable to read or write the official Chinese characters used in Korea” - but he had a skill that was needed: having been born near the Russian border, Kim was able ...

2022-02-19 09:29

Tales of Korean nobles and American women: Part 2

Tales of Korean nobles and American women: Part 2

They say every story has two sides and both sides have to be heard before a fair judgment can be reached. As we saw in yesterday's article, many newspapers in the United States seemingly had an agenda to portray Eugene Hughes, a Korean student, in a very negative light. Today's article will look at him from a more sympathetic perspective and allow you, the reader, to judge wh...

2022-02-14 11:23

Tales of Korean nobles and American women: Part 1

Tales of Korean nobles and American women: Part 1

Tales of Korean nobles and American women: Part 1

In recent years, hallyu, or the Korean wave, has grown from a small ripple into a tsunami. But this isn't the first time ...

2022-02-13 15:07

Tales of Korean nobles and American women: Part 2

'Chance of a lifetime': American fur traders in 1900s Korea

'Chance of a lifetime': American fur traders in 1900s Korea

In the early 1900s, the northern part of the Korean Peninsula was the domain of majestic tigers, sleek leopards, insatiable wolves and unpredictable giant boars. They prowled the darkness and lonely places preying upon the weak and unwary. They also attracted the attention of foreign hunters who came to Korea to hunt them as souvenirs to display in their trophy rooms. There w...

2022-02-06 08:57

Clare Hess: The dangerous spectator

Clare Hess: The dangerous spectator

In the first week of February 1903, Horace N. Allen, the American minister to Korea, reported to the State Department that the annual “seokjeon” (stone battles) had begun. He assured the State Department that these fights were common and the Korean government allowed, if not supported, them because they were “supposed to promote a courageous spirit” in Korean men.

2022-02-05 09:32

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