나의 기록 – 無名
My Story 
Korea Town
40.747°N 73.987°W
Unknown to The Unknown
Traveling is understanding the place’s past, present, and future.
By understanding all of these we finally arrive at our destination.
And then we once again embark on a journey to find our tomorrow.
Jeong: affection, attachment
Every country has something that uniquely defines itself. While America is the country of freedom, and France is the county of art, Korea is the country of “정 — Jeong”. And every Koreans keep something magical called Jeong within our hearts.
Although this simple character 정 — Jeong seems trivial, it is a commonly used character that exists in both Chinese and Japanese. In an article by Dr. Christopher K. Chung and Dr. Samson Cho of UCLA, they described the meaning of Jeong to be subtly different for each country in regards to their unique cultural context.
情 — Qing
The Chinese, emphasize the aspects of loyalty and reciprocity in relationships when using their Jeong character.
じょう
情 — Jyo にん にんじょう
In Japanese, Jyo means the sentimental feelings with the addition of 人 — People, 人情 — Nin Jyo.
정 — Jeong
Jeong in Korean culture has much broader meanings and ambiguous implication in the expression of emotions and encompasses the Chinese and Japanese concepts.
Although Jeong exists in different cultures, unlike them, our Jeong is a mystical word that cannot be defined by petty little words. Not passionate enough to define it as love, and not close enough to describe it as intimacy. Love, intimacy, affection, sympathy, and sorrow; Jeong is a weird combination of all of these words. It is a magical word that brings out endless warmth and sadness from our heart.
“In essence, Jeong refers to the emotional and psychological bonds that join Koreans; it permeates all levels, dividing the world into different degrees of us/we versus them. The uniqueness of this phenomenon lies in its ubiquity and its source: the collective nature of Korean society.”
– Dr. Christopher K. Chung and Dr. Samson Cho of UCLA –
Then in a strange country where nothing like Jeong exists, how did we embody our Jeong into the New York society and build a safe haven for those who long for home?
When this unknown country was thought to welcome people with its liberty, equality, and endless opportunities of the American Dream, as Koreans we were yet the unknown stranger from an unknown country.
Koryo Books
35 W 32nd St, New York, NY, 10001
In 1977, Eung Pyo Choi opened a Korean book store in the middle of 32nd street when the concept of Korea Town didn’t even exist. However, embarking on a journey of his own, he opened a book store which would mark the beginning of the Korea Town.
Before opening Koryo Books in Korea Town, in 1975 he first started a coffee shop in Brooklyn which failed after only 6 months. Though, rather than being discouraged by his failure, Choi opened the bookstore believing that the Korean society would expand and later on more Koreans would turn to enjoy cultural life.
And as Choi had believed it to be, the 32nd street is now a culturally diverse place, where people from all around the world come to enjoy Korea’s culture. Now the Koryo books not only sell books, but also k-beauty, k-fashion, and k-pop which is part of the 한류 — Hallyu (Korean Wave)” that is becoming more and more influential in the world.
Maybe like his coffee shop in Brooklyn, this bookstore might have been a reckless decision, but it was his foresight that helped build the Korean Town we see today. Thus, because there were men like Eung Pyo Choi, people like me are able to freely breathe in this lonely unfamiliar city.
Although New York is fascinating with all the shining lights and endless opportunities, to me this place isolates and suffocates me from time to time.
But Korea Town is the only place where I can feel like I belong somewhere, like the many lonely people who came far away from home to dream.
Many people walk through the 32nd street and even though we don’t know each other or pay attention to one other, their mere existence calms us. This intricate emotion of Jeong is what identifies and unites us as Korean. And now as our culture spreads out into the world, Jeong is no longer unique among the people of Korean, but within all of those who come to our town and our society.
나의 이야기로 시작했지만, 이제 우리 모두의 이야기다.
This book started as my story but it is now our story.
Works Cited
Chung, Christopher K., and Samson Cho. “Significance of “Jeong” in Korean culture
and psychotherapy.” In Proceedings from the 10th Scientific Meeting of the
Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists. 2001.
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e!8m2!3d40.7479462!4d-73.9871501.
Jo, Jinmung. “景踹曖 貲“30喇 諼望 New York’s
Attraction Site: Koryo Books, The 30 years Korean Culture Keeper.” Future
Korea Weekly, June 13, 2012. http://www.futurekorea.co.kr/news/articleView.
html?idxno=21145.
Jo, Jungmu. “/ 30 Story of Koreans in
New York/ Eung Pyo Choi who run the Koryo Books.” The Korea Times, March
28, 2013. http://ny.koreatimes.com/article/785729.
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ca99-58d385a7b928.
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Zhang, Anzhe. “Midtown’s 5 Best Unknown Bookstores.” Uploaded September 18.
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