Korea
Explore Korean stories of animals, spirits, families, lovers and public officials. The versions here include historical English retellings whose language and judgments need context; consult the source note and the audience guidance on the individual page.
72 stories are in this region right now.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Unmannerly Tiger
Tricked by a hunter’s mirror into leaping at his own reflection, a proud old tiger lands in a pit and begs a passing monk to set him free.
Korean Folk Tales
All Ages
The Story of Chang To-ryong
A ragged beggar who jokes with the servants in Bell Street is treated with fearful respect by the proudest magician in Seoul, and nobody can tell why.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Sneezing Colossus
Sent out by his wife to find food for the family, lazy Mr. Kim spots a giant pear growing from the head of a huge stone Buddha high on the mountain.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Soldier of Kang-wha
To cheer up his sulking wife, a plain village soldier tosses scraps of silk into the air, and the room fills with butterflies of every color.
Korean Folk Tales
The Snake’s Revenge
An archer shoots a great snake caught in the bars of the Water Gate of Seoul, and soon after, his wife gives birth to a son who is terrified of him.
Korean Folk Tales
All Ages
The Sky Bridge of Birds
Once a year every magpie in Korea flies up to the sky, where millions of them join wings to make a bridge across the River of Stars for two parted lovers.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Resourceful Wife
When the tyrant King Yon-san summons a minister’s beautiful young wife to his palace, she goes without a tear, carrying a secret plan of escape.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Rabbit’s Eyes
When the King of the Fishes swallows a fishhook, the sea doctors decide only a rabbit’s eyes can cure him, and Dr. Turtle is sent ashore to fetch one.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Renowned Maing
Sheltering from the rain in a roadside pavilion, a proud young scholar lectures a plain old traveler on poetry, never guessing that he is a famous minister.
Korean Folk Tales
The Plucky Maiden
The most feared governor in Pyong-an Province orders a deputy to hand over his beautiful daughter, but she greets him holding a sword instead of a fan.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
The Propitious Magpie
A poor friend of King T’ai-jong builds a fake magpie nest in the King’s path, and the writer Yi Ryuk tells how real magpies brought his own family luck.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
The Old Woman Who Became a Goblin
A scholar’s wife takes in an old beggar woman who can spin more than eight women in a day, but the helper grows angry when the welcome cools.