Travel essay bridges gap between Korea and foreign audiences with unique cultural insights

In Korea, the choice of alcohol can carry subtle social meanings. Saying, "Let's grab a beer," and, "Let's have some soju," conveys different vibes, according to medical doctor and journalist Park Jae-young.

Inviting someone for a beer typically means, "Let's hang out," or, "I have something to talk about, but it's nothing too serious." On the other hand, asking someone to have soju can suggest, "I have something personal to share," or, "I'm going through a tough time and could use some company while I drink."

These cultural nuances are among many fascinating insights explored in Park’s new travel essay, “Selling/Digging Korea -- All the Korea You May Not See,” a bilingual Korean and English book that blends cultural storytelling with practical travel advice.

The book is a collection of 20 chapters of stories shedding light on unique aspects of Korean life that often surprise foreign visitors, and in turn surprise Koreans themselves for surprising foreigners.

Park, a medical doctor who has been working as an editor at The Korea Doctors' Weekly since 1999, is also a book podcast host and producer. He has written books on the Korean health care landscape, as well as a novel, "General Hospital 2.0," which was adapted into an MBC medical drama series in 2008, starring Cha Tae-hyun. A travel enthusiast, his passion for travel has also resulted in the book of essays "The Art of Preparing for a Trip."

His latest work started with a question: "What books do foreigners read when they want to learn about Korea?”

"They say 10 million tourists visit Korea each year," Park said. "As someone who enjoys traveling and ‘preparing’ for trips, I suddenly wondered what kind of books foreign tourists read when they want to visit and learn about Korea?"

After a quick search on Amazon, Park bought one of the more popular titles and skimmed through it, but it was just the same kind of guidebook he had seen before -- lots of information but no story, which was boring to read.

Determined to offer something more engaging, Park decided to write his own collection of stories -- with the kind of unexpected details that foreigners he met in the past often ask about.

Why, for example, do restaurant staff ask if you’d like to "have a meal" after eating pork belly (samgyeopsal)? Or why is hiring part-time wedding guests a thing? (A nod to the Oscar-winning film "Parasite," where Park So-dam mentions working as a paid wedding guest.) Other questions include "What's with perilla leaves (kkaennip) that only Koreans seem to eat them?"

Alongside these stories, Park also recommends top spots and restaurants in Seoul and other cities.

Park said he specifically wrote with an international audience in mind, hoping to demystify Korea’s quirks and cultural gems that might otherwise go unnoticed.

"There’s a well-known phrase every Korean knows: 'You can see as much as you know,'" Park explained. "That’s what I want to do -- help readers see more, have fun, and create lasting memories in Korea by sharing captivating stories."

To bring his vision in English, Park turned to artificial intelligence. After finishing the Korean manuscript in late 2022, he initially searched for a translator. One acquaintance showed interest and expressed willingness to translate, but he could not start working for another seven months.

Instead of waiting, Park decided to use AI tools like DeepL and ChatGPT to convert the Korean text into English, refining the translation himself over nearly a year. The process led to amusing challenges, such as correcting "military dumpling" (AI’s translation of "pan-fried dumpling"). For a final round of edits, he collaborated with a professor from Johns Hopkins University.

Through trial and error, he gained significant know-how, Park said. Based on this experience, he plans to write a spinoff book on the topic of writing books in English using AI.

There is a reason the book is bilingual. While his target readers are foreign tourists and foreigners living in Korea, Park hopes it will also equip Korean readers to explain their country to foreigners.

Koreans may not always know the best way to describe their own culture, especially when it comes to subtleties like how Korean soy sauce differs from Japanese soy sauce, or why scissors and tongs are common on Korean dining tables.

"I hope many Koreans who read this book will become experts at explaining Korea to foreigners," he said.