Seoul Selection: 53 books

Real Places. Real Life. Real Seoul. A Local Guide to the Hottest City in Asia What’s the best way to tour around a foreign city? Unless you want to pilgrim through the obvious landmarks and take typical vacation shots at tourist restaurants, the best and the safest way would be to...

An exploration of Seoul — its landscape and its stories by Nobel Prize winner J. M. G. Le Clézio   The French writer and Nobel Literature laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio has harbored a keen interest in Korea that not only prompted him to learn and master the Korean language on...

 This book is a collection of articles from the "Ask a Korean Dude" column Seoul Selection's monthly travel and culture magazine, SEOUL, ran to answer questions posed by readers regarding aspects of Korean society and culture. Fielding the questions with sincerity and a dash of humor, the...

Riding the subway, pulling into a new station, we've all had the thought: What if I just got off here? What's up there? SEOUL SUB-URBAN seeks to answer those questions, visiting subway stations across the Korean capital and looking at the surrounding areas from a perspective that combines the...

Shin Yong-ho: a great entrepreneur who used his success in business as a springboard for aiding the development of his country and the future of his people   • The turbulent life and times of a towering figure in South Korea’s insurance industry • The narrative of...

Since time immemorial, Korea has developed an outstanding craft culture. Its superior quality can be seen in everything from the beautiful and elaborate golden crowns of the Three Kingdoms era (57 B.C.–A.D. 668) to the astonishing scientific technology of the Unified Silla era’s Seokguram Grotto....

SPIRITS, MONSTERS, AND DEMONS IN PARADISE, IN SEOUL, AND IN THE UNDERWORLD Homer B. Hulbert and James S. Gale, two of the most famous North American missionaries to come to Korea in the 1880s, were very fond of ghost stories, but for years the Korean scholars they met swore that...

Practitioners of Korean traditional medicine say the ultimate cause of disease is not so much the invasion of external elements but rather malfunctions in inherent bodily function. Since disease is considered to result from the weakening of vital energy, the emphasis is placed on boosting the body’s...

John Mahelm Berry Sill's role as the American Minister to Korea (1894-1897) is one of controversy. He has been described as weak, ineffective, and reluctant by some and as independent, proactive, and alert by others, depending on the researcher. He served during an extremely turbulent period of Korean...

The Joseon dynasty ruled Korea for over half a millennium, bequeathing to Korea a considerable cultural heritage. This book will examine three of the better-known areas of Joseon cultural heritage: royal palaces, royal tombs, and the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. Standing in the heart of Seoul, the...

The history of Korean museums goes back more than 100 years, to the opening of the Jesil Bangmulgwan in 1909. There are now 11 national museums in provincial cities throughout Korea, unified by the hub that is Seoul's iconic National Museum of Korea, completed in 2005, while the large number of regional,...

For those living in Seoul, it's easy to conclude that the urban swath of concrete grays and muddy browns is all there is to see in Korea. Yet those who look up can glimpse crests of mountains, seemingly faraway yet thankfully ever-present. Such is Korean nature—never imposing or intimidating,...

Sindeok, the First Queen of the Joseon Dynasty Heavy, intricately carved tombstones are embedded in the banks of theCheonggyecheon Stream that cuts through downtown Seoul, in the shadows of the Gwangtonggyo Bridge, echoing the story of their owner, Queen Sindeok, the first of the Joseon Dynasty....

**The Bronze Medal winner in the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Best Adults Fiction E-book category. ** During the final years of the Japanese Occupation, when most Korean brides and grooms were married sight unseen, Gui-yong and Eum-chun strike gold by finding a love as sweet...