Upcoming Royal Asiatic Society - Korea activities for M-Holers:
Tuesday, May 20th: RAS-K Lecture-Meeting, featuring Professor Donald Clark (PhD in in East Asian History from Harvard, author of books on Seoul and foreigners-in-Korea history, son and grandson of Presbyterian missionaries who first arrived in Korea in 1902). He will speak on “Where do Foreign Missionaries fit in Korea’s Modern History?”, addressing four clusters of questions aimed at an understanding of what “missionaries” in general did and didn’t do in modern Korea. See the interesting description of this speech on our website for more. 7:30 pm in the 2nd-floor Resident’s Lounge of the Somerset Palace, Anguk-dong (just north of Jogye-sa), Seoul. Free for RAS Members, w5000 donation requested from others.
Sun May 25th: Odae-san National Park Tour This great park is much less-famous and thus less-visited than Seorak-san, but this is one of its attractions because it is possible to enjoy the beauty of the pine-forested sloped, deep valleys and grand temples in a relatively quiet atmosphere. Buddhists also consider it one of Korea’s most important mountains, as it was a crucial site in the history of the propagation of Buddhism in Korea. The tour includes the important historic temples Woljeong-sa and Sangwon-sa.
Sat-Sun May 31-June 1st: Gangneung City / East Cost Tour — A visit to the historic city of Gangnung, gateway to Korea’s east coast. We will visit Ojukhon (birth-house of philosopher Yi Yul-gok and museum of his mother Shim Saim-dang’s artworks), the Gangneung Hyanggyo Confucian School, the Seongyo-jang (aristocratic mansion), Gyeongpo Provincial Park (beach, lake, pavilion-on-hill) and Uljin’s Manghae-jeong Pavilion and Songnyu-gul Cave (”the underground diamond mountains”). After visiting these interesting and well-preserved Neo-Confucian architectural sites around Gangneung, we will take a scenic drive along the east coast, stopping at the stunning Bulyeong Valley on the way home.
Friday June 6th (holiday)(9am-1pm): Hiking Tour of Fortress Wall on Bugak-san (northern Seoul)
Sunday June 8th: Danyang County Tour (North Chungcheong Province) — visiting the Gosu Cave and a boat-cruise on beautiful Chungju Lake, with the Cheongpung Cultural Folklore Village.
For more information, call 763-9483 in Seoul during business hours, write to raskb@kornet.net or visit our website http://www.raskb.com/
