Review: Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles

Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles by Simon Winchester
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Like others, I read (and loved) "The Professor and the Madman", so when I saw the same author had written a book about Korea, I had to read it. Hmmmm. 

Some interesting notes:

- There used to be fencing all along the East coast (was this still there when I was there? It definitely wasn't as popular as it is now)

- Apparently you couldn't keep maps you bought outside the country. 

- The maps also didn't specify a border between North and South Korea (is this true??)

- Koreans weren't issued passports during the 1980s (?)

- I'd like to know more about the Catholic priests and nuns in Jejudo at the time. 

- The story about Jeju's (possibly) communist uprising before the Korean war was fascinating. 

- And at some point he says he mentions a Korean poet (brother of the buddhist monk he is hanging out with), called Hwang Chi-woo. Thanks to google, I can now confirm that it is probably this person: https://wordswithoutborders.org/contributors/view/hwang-ji-woo/

- Also fascinating about the Chollipo arboretum. 

Some others have commented on how critical he seems of US military personnel in Korea. While I find his general attitude very annoying, from what I remember from the 90s in Korea, some of that military personnel really wasn't the type you'd want to hang out with. Back then we would avoid Itaewon like the plague. Still, he constantly makes use of Americans and their facilities for places to stay, transportation, letting him go to the DMZ, etc., but feels the need to trash them at every turn, and loves to mention how much more he is respected as an Englishmen than an American would be. 

While we're at it, his attitude toward Korean women is irritating to say the least. Apparently they all can't get enough of him and seem to throw themselves at him. 

The most interesting part of the book is at the very end, when he mentions someone (whose name he isn't allowed to disclose), who apparently was allowed to go back and forth from South to North Korea and back freely. I assume, at this point, this person is retired and/or has passed away, but I can't seem to find any information on who it might be. 

2.5 stars

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