Introduction

고래 싸움에 새우 등 터진다. ~ In a battle between whales, the shrimp's back is broken.

This Korean proverb summarizes Korea's view of its history. Seeing itself trapped between Japan, China, and (in the 19th and 20th century) Russia/the USSR, Koreans frequently felt they got the short end of the stick in their dealings with their larger and more powerful neighbors. The reality is somewhat more complicated. And, if you're a casual historian who doesn't speak Korean, it's almost inaccessible.

I've lived in Korea for nearly 3 years now, and I've developed a passion for Korean history. I always loved history, and I regularly read history books aimed at casual audiences (book of the same genre as Steven Ambrose's books Citizen Soldiers or An Army at Dawn). When I came to Korea, I started exploring the history of Korea, just as I did when I lived in Europe and America.

So when I went to 경복궁(Gyeongbokgung Palace, one of 5 within Seoul), I was naturally intrigued when I stumbled upon this.

Assassination? Japanese agents? That sounds like some fascinating history! So I went to the English bookstores here and scoured the shelves. I found shelves of books on Korean history, beginning in 1945. It was as if, for casual historical works, Korea didn't exist before the end of World War 2. There are some sources online, and over the years I've found a few blogs which cover Korean history, but few books.

There were some translations of scholarly Korean works. But scholarly language is very difficult to translate into a new language and most of the translations were slow, rough reading. There are books covering aspects of Korean history from the perspectives of outsiders, for instance A Dragon's Head and a Serpent's Tail, a book about Ming Dynasty's involvement in the defense of Korea during the Japanese invasion in 1592. There don't seem to be as many casual historical works of the type I was looking for which covered the era I was looking for. And none of those that I could find that were readily available in Korea (ironically enough).

So finally, last April, I decided to study Korean history in an effort to produce (at least online) the sorts of reading material I wanted to find about Korean history, but couldn't.

This is a long journey. Ultimately, I hope to earn a Ph.D in Korean History and study in depth Korean history before 1945, particularly the Joseon dynasty. Currently, I'm learning Korean and doing self-studies of various topics in Korean history. I'm opening this blog as a place to record what I find and, hopefully, interact with others who have the same interest in Korean history that I do.