Reading traditional Korean folk tales for fun and reading them again in English

Let’s read traditional Korean folk tales in Korean and English!

The traditional folk tale is a genre widely read and beloved regardless of the era.

Transmitted from mouth to mouth over a long period, traditional Korean folk tales reflect the everyday lives, customs, joys and sorrows, and humor and courage of Koreans in the olden days. They are invaluable stories that can be enjoyed by people in distant lands and those who have come from afar and live in South Korea as well. - Kim Myung-Hwan (professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Seoul National University) -

As in the recommendation by Professor Kim Myung-Hwan at Seoul National University, reading old tales holds a special value. Publishing traditional Korean folk tales, which are thus meaningful, in both Korean and English, this series will reward children with both the joy of reading old stories and an opportunity to study English. Furthermore, the series has been planned so that it can be enjoyed by Korean children overseas, children from multicultural families in South Korea, and children around the globe as well. We hope that it will be used also as a good guide for naturally introducing Korean culture to foreign friends abroad as they are told traditional folk tales from Korea.

An Introduction to the Series

Out of the countless tales that are widely known to many Korean readers, 23 especially colorful and entertaining ones have been selected and edited into 12 volumes. Familiar to Korean children, stories such as “Yeonorang and Seonyeo,” “The Headstone Goes to Court,” “The King has Donkey’s Ears,” and “Kongji and Patji” will not only be fun to read in the original Korean but also heighten youngsters’ understanding as they read the English translations. In addition, children who know similar traditional folk tales from other countries can make comparisons, thus being provided with a fascinating approach to these works.

Table of Contents

01 “Kongji and Patji”

Kongji’s mother tragically died due to illness, leaving her beloved young daughter behind. After her death, there was no one to look after the child at home. Feeling pity, the little girl’s father therefore remarried so that there would be a caregiver. After giving birth to Patji, a girl, however, the stepmother did not pay any attention to Kongji. As she grew, the elder girl became even prettier and was kindhearted so that everyone was full of praises for her. In contrast, her younger stepsister had a mean look and was ill-natured to boot. This led the stepmother to hate Kongji even more, heaping all of the arduous housework on her stepdaughter.