Transactions - Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 97 by VariousMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
An excellent read. I found every one of the essays/stories interesting in their own way.
The first one, by Brother Anthony of Taizé, is about two very early Korean Catholics, one of whom was fairly quickly sanctified after his death (Andrew Kim Dae-geon), while the other has yet to be so (Thomas Choe Yang-eop).
Next are 2 student essays: "Is Retro the new Present?" (by Lee Chaemin) and "Walking 'Hand-in-Hand' toward Harmony" (by Kim Dongha), about the 1988 Olympics. I hadn't realized how important they were. With the 1980 Olympics having been boycotted by the US, and the 1984 Olympics boycotted by the Soviet Union, the 1988 Olympics finally featured everyone again in Seoul.
The next essay is about how Western POWs were used by the Japanese Army as PR in Korea, being paraded through the country and as a showcase for how prisoners are treated well. This was all news to me. By Matt Van Volkenburg.
This is followed by another interesting piece of history, about when the Korean king hired some foreign bodyguards (which seems to have been a pretty misguided choice to say the least), by Robert Neff.
The essay by Nate Kornegay on late 20th century architecture in Korea was a throwback to me, and I was thankful for the photos, since that was when I first traveled to Korea.
Then there followed 2 essays from the Youth Panel: One on Collectivism and Competition (and the harm created by Korea's mix) by Hyunjee Romy Cho, while the other was about a 'happy mutant' kid in Daechi-dong, against all odds, by Myungseo Kim.
Then there is a somewhat long introduction to the Donghak (Cheondogyo) religion by Choe Chong-dae. It was interesting to read the founder's writings, although it became somewhat repetitive after a while.
The final story was Kimchi Kitty, by Martin Limon, which I enjoyed.
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