USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences

by Caroline Koo

This week, our group visited a living and breathing historical museum: the Korean Folk Village! The Korean Folk Village is a recreation of a traditional village from the late Chosun Dynasty. It preserves the past and promotes a feeling of authenticity by allowing visitors to experience what it would have been like to actually live in the village and walk through the streets of the Chosun Dynasty period. As soon as we walked into the Village, we were greeted with red and blue flags that signified a warm and welcoming gesture.

Posters of historical dramas and movies that had been filmed at the Korean Folk Village were everywhere.  It was easy to see that Hallyu clearly has a great effect on the structure of the Folk Village.  It was interesting to note how Hallyu, the symbol of Korean popular culture, has even extended into the context of the historical representation of Korea through media.

The contrast of modern tourists with this traditional village that has been frozen in time paralleled the film our group had viewed before going to the Korean Folk Village.  Our class had just watched김씨 표류기 (Castaway on the Moon)—a film that juxtaposes the money-crazed and socially corrupt lifestyle of present-day Korea against the nostalgic air of the simpler times in the past.  The desire of the people of Korea to preserve the memory of this time period in a very realistic and tangible form shows the fascination and sensationalized view of the past ways of life.

All in all, the trip to the Korean Folk Village was so much fun.  We were able to experience all the exciting aspects of old-time Korea like a tightrope walker and traditional horse shows.  This was definitely one of our more fun tours.  I wanted to look around even more, but we didn’t have enough time!  Hopefully I’ll be able to come back in a couple of years!