Z Online Class: A Zoom invitation link will be sent one day before class begins.
For centuries, Korean rulers have felt threatened by the more powerful forces surrounding them – China, Russia, Japan, and western colonial powers. In response, they sought to isolate their subjects from most foreign influences. The Korean people were encouraged, or obliged, to go their separate ways. In 1989, John Stewart spent six months in South Korea at a time when this half of the peninsula was recovering from a painful war and emerging from its ‘Hermit Kingdom’ cocoon into the modern world. In this presentation, John will describe some of what he saw as the more surprising, interesting, endearing, and frustrating aspects of life in this unusual country.
John A. Stewart is a retired software developer with degrees in biology from the University of Michigan. He enjoys self-guided travel to out-of-the-way places.