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
Samsin Halmoni: The Korean Grandmother Goddess Everyone Knows and No One Can Explain
Ask any Korean who Samsin Halmoni is, and you’ll get the same answer: “Oh, the childbirth grandmother. Everyone knows her.” Then ask a follow-up question. Where does she come from? What’s her story? Why is she a grandmother and not, say, a young mother? Silence. I’ll be honest with you — I was part of…
Why Does Korea Still Call Itself a Tiger, When the Tigers Are Gone?
When Seoul hosted the Olympics in 1988, the mascot was a friendly little tiger named Hodori. Thirty years later, when the Winter Games came to Pyeongchang, the mascot was a white tiger named Soohorang. Korea’s national football team plays with a tiger on its crest. A goofy, wide-eyed tiger practically steals the show in one…
Meet the Korean Tiger God Hiding Inside Korea’s Buddhist Temples
Next time you visit a Buddhist temple in Korea, walk past the main hall — the big, golden, crowded one where everyone takes photos — and keep going. Head toward the back, where the ground starts to slope up into the trees. Sooner or later you’ll find a small, plain wooden building, easy to miss,…
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.
