Tired of life in the fast lane? Escape to this “slow city” in Damyang for a taste of traditional Korea.

Story and photographs by Bill Stephens

If you spend a week in Seoul, it’s easy to see why the national branding slogan “Dynamic Korea” has replaced the “Land of Morning Calm.”

But travel three hours by train and then 30 minutes by bus and taxi to Samjicheon Village in the Damyang region, and you’ll experience perhaps what was meant by…

Text and photographs by Mark Edward Harris

Few lands have been more devastated by war and conflict than 20th-century Korea. Yet the perseverance of the peninsula’s people has maintained for posterity many of its cultural institutions and historical structures.

I started my exploration of South Korea’s rich history with a visit to the tomb of Sejong the Great in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province. While so many world leaders are associated with conquests and wars, it’s inspiring to learn about a leader who…

The third Asian American tapped to join Obama’s cabinet, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke—who also made history as the first Chinese American governor—muses on the “100-year” trail that led him to one of the nation’s highest posts. This month, as U.S. Census forms filter into the homes of Americans, one of Locke’s biggest tasks is to ensure an accurate count of the national population and  tackle low levels of immigrant participation, including among historically “hard to count” Koreans.

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