‘Amazon.com/.ca/.co.uk/.co.jp.’ Everyone is familiar with Amazon and the advantage of being able to pay with your credit card from home. The disadvantages are longer shipping periods and more expensive shipping rates (but not always). It may be worth your while to do some price comparison shopping. Amazon allows the customer to view the final invoice – which includes the shipping cost – before charging the credit card, so a quick “pretend” checkout will tell you if it’s worthwhile shopping somewhere else. [Note: look for the "Click here for English" link at amazon.co.jp]

‘Betterworld.com.’ A little-known Internet gem, Better World specializes in used books, and international shipping is $2.97 per book. Over 90% of the books available are in a state of having been only read once or twice. Shipping time varies. Books are often priced as low as $3.49. If you haven’t visited this site in a while you will notice that the search engine there has drastically improved and the site is more stable.

‘SeoulSelection.com.’ Based in Seoul with its bricks-n-mortar store in Gwanghwamun. Specializes in English books with Korean subject matter – history, culture, language, arts, fiction, non-fiction, and more are all thoroughly covered in the inventory. Domestic bank-to-bank transfers are available. Free shipping on orders exceeding 40,000 won, otherwise it is 3,000 won per order. Shipping time is 2-3 days. Its disadvantage is its finicky (or perhaps poorly functioning) search engine. Even if your query finds “No results”, there is still a decent chance that they carry what you are looking for. Check the categories and listings thoroughly, page by page. Often enough, a book may be categorized as history that you would have expected to find under culture, for example.

The preceding sites do not require you to be literate in Korean; the following do:

Kyobobook.co.kr, Yes24.com, YesAsia.com, and Gmarket.co.kr, all might be worth the effort if you cannot find what you are looking for at the other sites. Do not expect much from YesAsia; as of January 2005 they downsized their English Book section to only some bestsellers.

www.whatthebook.com
www.betterworld.com
www.seoulselection.com
www.kyobook.co.kr
www.yes24.com
www.yesasia.com
www.gmarket.co.kr
www.amazon.com/.ca/.co.uk/.co.jp

The Korean royalty of the late 1800s was quick and excited to introduce Western influences that came through missionaries and travelers. Pre-colonial Korea, or, rather, the young and impulsive King Kojong, was eager to accept Western ideas and discoveries such as Christianity, electricity, radio, and telephones- seeing these means as a way to modernize and separate themselves from their Japanese and Chinese neighbors.

The first telephones were brought to Korea in 1882, only 6 years after they were invented. In 1894, the royal palace had a system installed.

“Indeed, they occasionally found some remarkable uses for the new technology. It became an excellent time-saving device which enabled them to circumvent some otherwise lengthy confucian rites…the aging [King] Kojong used the phone to take part in rituals commemorating his deceased consort instead of going to her tomb in person.”

And when Kojong died? His son, Sunjong, wailed at his tomb twice a day…over the phone!

One provocative chapter is entitled, “1970s: Policy to reduce food consumption is introduced”. The chapter outlines President Pak’s plan to reduce rice consumption, rice being a strained resource in the struggling Korea.

“The government enforced harsh austerity measures to reduce the consumption of food, and especially rice,…supported by active propaganda campaigns. As usual, the stress was on the alleged nutritional deficiencies of rice and the wonderful qualities of other foodstuffs which were suggested as substitutes.”

A basic knowledge of recent Korean history is important, but not necessary, to understanding the book. It would be wise to do a quick search on General Pak Chung Hee, the Korean war, and the Japanese annexation and colonization of Korea. Otherwise, the book is a breeze to read. It is written in short chapters to create a time line, each with a completely different theme, only being tied together by successive dates. The book starts with “1784: Christianity Arrives” as the earliest date and finishes with “1990s: Perception of Korean sex culture refined dramatically”.

Unlike many historical non-fiction books about Korea, this book is a light read, despite covering a broad spectrum of topics: from the first photos ever taken in Korea, to the first Western hospital, to when Chilsung Cider began producing the nation’s first fizzy drink, to the opening of the famous Dongdaemun market, to the first incidences of AIDS. Want to know when Koreans phased out the tradition of mock-kidnapping widows? Or how the ubiquitous coffee machine first came to Korea? This book has it. Each chapter is completely different and only a few pages long (the longest chapter being a mere 7 pages).

Unfortunately, like most books on Korean history, there is no mention of Jeju anywhere in this book. The book is entirely Seoul-centric, with a mention of Busan and Pyongyang here and there, but, since Korea’s history begins with Seoul, that is the main setting of Lankov’s work. Still, if you want to know how modern Korean economics, culture, and society exploded into being after a devastating occupation and war, this book is highly recommended.

Lankov, A. (2007). The Dawn of Modern Korea. Seoul, South Korea: EunHaeng NaMu.
Get your English books at: Jeju Book Town in Shin Jeju, www.betterworld.com, www.amazon.com, www.kyobobook.co.kr, www.seoulselection.com.

Photo ©Martin Newman