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
The Ten Kings of the Korean Underworld : A Complete Guide
This article explains the Underworld of Korea. This is a companion guide to the Jeoseung Saja series. If you arrived here directly, you may want to start with Part 3: You Die. Then What? — it explains the 49-day trial that sets the stage for everything below. Before We Begin: A Note on Names The…
You Die. Then What? Inside Korea’s Afterlife Court
In Korea, death is not the end of the story. It is the beginning of a trial. What awaits is the Korean afterlife — not a place, but a process. The Moment After The cremation is over. What happens next depends on the family. Some place the ashes in a columbarium. Some scatter them over…
Gangnim Doryeong: The Human Who Became Korea’s Most Famous Death Messenger(saja)
In most myths, humans are summoned by the king of the dead. Gangnim Doryeong‘s story begins the other way around. Before he became Korea’s most famous Jeoseung Saja — the death messengers we explored in Part 1 — Gangnim was a human official. Not a god. Not a spirit. A man who worked in a…
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.
