KOREA — THE HERMIT NATION 



By Commander Harrie Webster, 



United States Navy 



Korea — called by several writers " The Hermit Nation '' and by its 

 inhabitants Cho-sen, the Land of the Morning Calm — is that singu- 

 lar country in eastern Asia which stretches south from the elevated 

 plains of Manchuria, and is bounded on the east by the Sea of 

 Japan and on the west by the Yellow Sea. Its area of approximately 

 80,000 square miles sustains a population of some 12,000,000; but 

 in both geography and population much is necessarily left to the im- 

 agination, for an accurate knowledge from any point of view is yet 

 to be obtained. 



The historical records also are meager and tinged with the Oriental 

 tendency to assert as facts much that cannot be proven. Situated as 

 she is, between two nations, each jealous of the influence and favor 

 of the other, it has been her unfortunate fate to suffer attack and 

 outrage from China and -Japan in turn. She has been a battle- 

 ground for centuries. 



The physical characteristics of Korea have been aptly descrilied 

 by an English traveler as " a sea suddenly congealed during the pro- 

 gress of a gale of wind." The mountainous character of the countr}'' 

 can only be appreciated by actual experience. The traveler is 

 always certain that from the toj) of the next mountain plains and 

 level ground will be disclosed ; but no such good fortune awaits him, 

 for the sole outlook from the ridges of Korea is upon other moun- 

 tains, which in turn conceal still others. It has been said there is 

 no level land in the country, and this is almost literally true. 



As a natural result of the lack of plains, the rivers are frequent 

 and small, the Han being perhaps the most important. At the 

 mouth of this fine river is Chemulpho, and some 60 miles farther up, 

 the capital, Seoul ; but navigation between the two points is very 

 difhcult, as the tremendous tides along the coast exercise an influ- 

 ence even above the capital city. 



The Han River is wild and picturesque, the numerous bends and 

 rapids giving it a character unique for this part of the globe, where 

 the vast alluvial plains of the Chinese Empire remind one of the 

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