A Russian postage stamp featuring the very popular (half-Korean) Soviet rock star, Viktor Robertovich Tsoi.
Early maps that show great detail in Japan and China depict a curiously blank Korean peninsula (which is sometimes drawn as an island). For centuries, the West called Korea the “Hermit Kingdom” for its zealous control of who could enter or exit its territory. But the Joseon Dynasty‘s deterioration in the late 19th century brought the Korea’s first major exodus, as hundreds of thousands of ethnic Koreans left and called China, Japan and the Russian Far East home.
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Hi all,
Here’s just a quick note to let you know about some changes to DiscoveringKorea.com. Since returning to Korea last week, I’ve added a new Photo Albums feature. Since it’s impossible to include all of the snapshots of our destinations in each post, now you can look to our new Picasa photo albums for more (and larger) photos from each destination. So far, I’ve uploaded albums for Incheon and the Hwaseong Fortress. I hope you enjoy them.
Additionally, I’m excited to announce Discovering Korea’s content partnership with GlobalPost.com. Launched earlier this month, GlobalPost is a new international news organization, and they’ve asked to feature DiscoveringKorea.com on their South Korea news page. I’m hopeful this partnership will expose more people to travel news about Korea.
I haven’t forgotten about my pre-vacation promise to make posts about Korean culture outside Korea! I’m still compiling all of my travel notes and look forward to blogging about the Korean diaspora in the very near future.
Finally, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions about DiscoveringKorea.com, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from you. Until then…
Best,
Matt
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Over the next several weeks the pace of posting here will slow down. During the holidays I’ll be visiting family and friends in Europe and the U.S. But along the way, in addition to eating lots of food and trying to stay warm, I’ll be looking for evidence of the Korean diaspora outside the peninsula.
Cases in point? How about Berlin’s Seouler Garten (Seoul Garden) and the honorary “Seoul Drive” in Chicago?
If you know of any other places, please fill me in… in January I’ll write some fun posts about my experiences Discovering Korea in the West! Until then, thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from you!
Best,
Matt
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Searching for a little “seoul” in Berlin, Germany.
