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
Fancha and the Magpie
A Manchu emperor who wants heavenly ancestors hears an old storyteller’s tale of three sky maidens, a magpie’s red fruit and a boy saved in a forest.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
East Light and the Bridge of Fishes
A boy saved as a baby by pigs and mares grows into a great archer, and when a jealous king hunts him, the fish of a river form a bridge for him.
Korean Folk Tales
Faithful Mo
A slave’s beautiful daughter marries a scholar against a prince’s will, and after her death he meets her spirit one moonlit night on Camel Mountain.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Cursed by the Snake
When servants kill a giant snake found coiled in a flour jar and burn its body, deadly smoke fills a minister’s mansion and leaves the land cursed.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Cheung Puk-chang, the Seer
A brilliant scholar who learns any language at a hearing tells his worried aunt exactly where her overdue servant is, and why he is being beaten.
Korean Folk Tales
Charan
A governor’s son makes a dangerous winter journey to find Charan, who supports their life together and devises a plan to secure their return.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
Cat-Kin and the Queen Mother
A farmer’s daughter named for a pussy willow calls up the Heavenly Queen Mother, who carries her by dragon chariot to the Island of Gems.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
A Visit from the Shades
A palace secretary dreams of his dead mother visiting a shaman's ceremony. A servant's matching account convinces him to change his offerings.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 9-12
An Encounter with a Hobgoblin
A young captain moves into an empty house in Seoul, where a vanishing woman, a rain of hot coals and a goblin who flings him across Korea await him.
Korean Folk Tales
Ages 6-8
A Story of the Fox
Alone at night in his father’s garden pavilion, a governor’s young son is visited by a pretty stranger he suspects is really a shape-changing fox.
Korean Folk Tales
All Ages
A Bridegroom for Miss Mole
A proud father mole offers his daughter to the Sky, the Sun, the Cloud, the Wind and a giant stone statue, and each sends him on to someone greater.
Korean Folk Tales
A Frog for a Husband
A giant bullfrog moves in with a poor old farmer, fills his house with treasure, then insists on marrying the loveliest girl in the next village.