Unexplainable Mysteries in Korean History
I’m a sucker for ancient mysteries. It doesn’t have to be ancient per se—just old enough so that it’s impossible to revisit and look for evidence, letting imaginations to run wild and adding to the lore.
These ancient mysteries, like the Machupicchu, the pyramids in Egypt (and everywhere else, for that matter), the Nazca lines, worldwide usage of the swastika (the word itself is Sanskrit!) symbol before Hitler and the Nazi forever ruined it, are not just the domain of foreign cultures. They may not be very well-known outside of Korea but it’s had its share of unexplainable phenomena in the past.
Monkey Troops
When I was growing up in a rural part of S. Korea, I remember watching a Korean dubbed American movie on our 13-inch black and white TV (in the late 1970s) that scared the crap out of me. The Korean title was 혹성1탈출 (literally “Escape from a Planet”) and I found out much later that the English title was Planet of the Apes. The original film with Charlton Heston. That was such a cool-sounding name to an impressionable youngster in an unknown corner of the world. Anyway…
In 1592, Japan invaded Korea in what ended up being a 7-year war historians call the most devastating in all of Korean history. Joseon was totally unprepared for the invasion that had been forewarned by a number of its officials but ignored by the King, causing immeasurable amount of damage. Joseon received military assistance from the Chinese Ming dynasty (it was said that the Japanese forces ultimately wanted to conquer China) and was finally able to fend off the Japanese forces.
The mystery is this. During the war, the Ming dynasty deployed its military to help Joseon, and there are multiple historical accounts, in unambiguous terms, that speaks of the 300 Monkey Troops. Yi Joong-hwan (이중환), a mid-18th century scholar and historian, writes…
… the monkeys on the horsebacks charged to the enemy line. The Japanese were confused as to whether they were being attacked by people or real monkeys, and all they did was to watch. Not knowing what to do, they fell back disorganized without firing an arrow or their arquebus.
There are other records written during the wartime itself too, describing essentially the same things; “monkeys that are capable of riding horses and attacking” and “there were 4 monkeys who could ride horses like people. They looked like big cats.”
Despite all these, historians were still mostly skeptical and the subject was never taken seriously. Until… A painting from 1599, believed to be an eyewitness account, depicting the Ming forces returning to their homeland was recently discovered.
If we blow up that red circled portion…
That flag says, “Monkey Troops 300.” What are those creatures, marching as if they were part of the regiment?
Flashback to when I was about 10 years old watching Planet of the Apes and being terrified.
UFO
I wanted to be an astrophysicist when I was little, so any subject that has to do with space always fascinated me. It’s easy to stigmatize and dismiss the whole subject as a figment of imagination but it. just. will. not. go. away. Quite the contrary, the New York Times wrote a piece on it as its headline story, there were numerous Congressional hearings on the matter, and as I understand it, the US military, especially the Navy, is actively looking for and/or tracking these things.
In September of 1995, a photographer for a major Korean newspaper was taking pictures of the Fall scenery in a countryside east of Seoul and this happened. Something was captured on the top right corner of the photo and this stirred up quite a controversy back then.
An “unexplainable phenomenon” on its own right, there was this social development after the above UFO picture swept the country, as reported by a major newspaper titled “UFO Syndrome.” It says,
… space suit fashion is in, and some friends are doing their hair/makeup in an alien style. During group blind dates,2 people with long fingers like ET and big heads are sought after by potential partners.
The whole country got caught up in the UFO craze and it shone a new light on a couple of buried stories from 10, 20 years prior.
October 12, 1982. One of the 3 major newspapers back then (Dong-A Ilbo) ran a cover story that read, “UFO seen in the whole country: from 10 different locations including Seoul, Daejeon, Busan, and Jeju.” The photo shown on the top left is supposedly a picture of a UFO craft taken by a US Air Force pilot during the Korean War.
April 13, 1973. “In clear skies without a trace of cloud, a silver/white flying craft appeared and divided itself into 5 or 6 pieces, then became one again, only to separate itself again into two elliptical pieces and landed at a nearby pine forest.” This was seen by about 60 elementary school children, including their teacher, Mr. Lee Eun-kyu, who had each student draw what they saw independently from one another. They pretty much looked same and here is one of them.
I know that the US government is trying to avoid the subject matter as a whole and there are “experts” who dismiss the notion of the UFO as natural weather patterns, weather balloons, or some secret military craft. Some of them definitely make sense, but how are you going to explain the following?
August 25, 1609. Yep, 400 years ago during Joseon dynasty, as written in the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty (조선왕조실록).
On September 22 (lunar calendar) between 9 am and 3 pm, an object that was round and shiny, something akin to a wash bowl (세수대야), suddenly rose up from a local official Kim Moon-wi’s house and floated. It was about 6 feet in diameter, it was white on the right side, blueish in the middle, and reddish on the left side. It flew up, turned red, the top of the object was pointed and the bottom half was flat. Then, it separated into two pieces—one flew away to the southeast and the other floated at the same spot, it looked like a seat cushion.
I had a separate post on this phenomenon if you’re interested. There are written records of mysterious flying objects in China and Japan also, by the way, that dates back hundreds of years.
Aliens?
Again, back to the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty. Book of King Seongjong, during the first year of his reign in 1470.
A man named Bak Seok-ro (박석로) was put to a gohn-jang punishment and sent away from his home for spreading false rumors.
The “rumor” that this man named Bak told of goes something like this…
At an affluent household in Goo-rieh (구례) County of Jeolla Province (전라도), there is this creature that came down from the skies that is about 2 to 3 times taller than a normal man, has a human-like body with no visible genitals (apparently with no clothing), but wears a mong-doo (몽두, head and face covering put on the criminals, would look like a motorcycle helmet today) on its head. This mong-doo (usually made of rice straw or cloth) was made from some sort of steel and looked like an upside-down hangari (항아리, the earthenware jar that stores kimchi and other fermented foods). He eats 2 to 3 times more rice than a normal man too.
Easy to dismiss it as a rumor concocted by an attention-seeking man. Then, about 55 years later, a book is published by a scholar and a court official under King Seongjong (the same King mentioned above) named Seong Hyeon (성현) describing something that he saw in the woods.
… my horse stopped in the path and would not move. I turned my head toward east into the woods and saw a creature that was 5 to 6 meters tall (2 to 3 times taller than humans) wearing a saht-gaht (삿갓) and there were lights coming out of his eyes. He cocked his head slightly then disappeared into the skies.
A saht-gaht is a headpiece that men wore—you’ve seen them all the time in history-based K-dramas.
Other Monsters?
There is even a story of a Korean bigfoot. Unlike the western tradition, however, the Korean kind—covered in hair and lives deep in the mountains—talks to people, benevolent, and is like a demi-god.
During the time of King Joong-jong (중종, r. 1506~1544, 2nd son of Seongjong mentioned above), the Veritable Records speaks of a “beast” that continuously appeared and wreaked havoc inside the Royal Palace. This was seen by the security forces of the Palace and was never captured. It’s said to be half dog half horse type of beast that no one has ever seen before. One night even the Queen’s bedroom was attacked, and she and her staff had to move to another Palace (Seoul has 5 Palaces).
I’ve only described a few of the mysterious stories that Korea has had over the years. Most are downright ridiculous and obvious fictions, but there are a few that certainly make you stop and think twice.
혹성 = planet. But this word (Japanese expression, another remnant from the Occupation era) is no longer used. A planet is called 행성.
Called 미팅 (meeting), one of the popular cultures for Korean college students. It would be like 7 young men from Yonsei University’s Economics major and 7 young ladies from Ehwa Women’s University’s English Literature major, or any other school/major combinations. After a brief group meeting, pairs would be made and go on 1-on-1 dates. (come to think of it, this would be another good idea for a separate post…)