Often business is nothing more than the purchase of another person’s time. But sometimes, it takes a physical form. One of the earliest business transactions involving Americans and Koreans took place in the summer of 1883 when Kim Ok-kuin, a Korean official, purchased a number of items from James R. Morse, an American businessman who owned “The American Clock & Brass Company” in Yokohama, Japan.
Seoul, in the summer of 1884, was filled with rivalries among the small handful of young Western men. Each of these men (naval officers, diplomats and anthropological collectors) s.
In the summer of 1884, there were a handful of Westerners exploring the Korean peninsula - one of them was John Baptiste Bernadou, a 24-year-old ensign in the United States Navy temporarily assigned to the legation in Seoul.
In the early 1890s, one British visitor to the Korean Peninsula declared that “the chief sources of expense to a [Korean] man lie in his clothes and his pipe.” Pipe smoking was an integral part of Korean society - enjoyed not only by men, but also women and even children. Tobacco soothed the troubled-spirit, aided in the treatment of diseases and injuries and was even figuratively used to “reckon time by the number of pipes smoked.” An example given in an 1893 article was: “He only stopped long enough to smoke one pipe” - which indicated a very short time.
In the early 1890s, one British visitor to the Korean Peninsula declared that “the chief sources of expense to a [Korean] man lie in his clothes and his pipe.” Pipe smoking was an integral part of Korean society - enjoyed not only by men, but also women and even children. Tobacco soothed the troubled-spirit, aided in the treatment of diseases and injuries and was even figuratively used to “reckon time by the number of pipes smoked.” An example given in an 1893 article was: “He only stopped long enough to smoke one pipe” - which indicated a very short time.