Korea, as told by a Korean
I grew up with these stories — the history, the myths, the places most people never find. This is my way of sharing them
What I Write About
History, myths, language, and the places in between. Told by someone who actually grew up in Korea
There’s a side of Korea that doesn’t make it into guidebooks. That’s what this is about
Chuseok: What Korean Thanksgiving Is Really Like
Every Chuseok, my family drives to my grandma’s house. Which sounds completely normal — until you know that in Korea, that’s not where you’re supposed to go. Korean holidays traditionally run through the father’s side of the family. That’s where the big gathering happens, that’s whose ancestors get honored first. But my father’s side passed…
Empress Myeongseong: The Assassination That Shook Korea
Most Americans have heard of Empress Sisi of Austria — the beautiful, unhappy empress who was assassinated, the one Netflix keeps making shows about. But did you know Korea had an empress with an eerily similar fate? Her name was Empress Myeongseong. And in October 1895, Imperial Japan gave the plan to kill her an…
Gongmin Shrine: A Hidden Spot Minutes from Hongdae
Most people who come to this part of Seoul are headed to Hongdae — the clubs, the cafes, the street performers. Almost none of them know that a short walk away, tucked behind an apartment building on an ordinary residential street, sits the Gongmin shrine — a 600-year-old royal shrine most guidebooks never mention. And…
See what catches your eye
Begin with what draws you in: a forgotten story, a local saying, a hidden place, or a piece of Korean history.
