Linkity link (pobusang and the future of Korean Studies)

Busy busy, so a couple of links in place of something more substantial.

I think this could qualify as a plug for myself masquerading as a plug for someone else's blog, but here goes anyway: I've been having an interesting discussion at Hunjangûi Karûch'im about the nature and historical significance of the pobusang or 'back and pack' peddlers of Chosôn dynasty Korea. Of course, this sort of thing is probably not at all interesting to 99.9 percent of people out there, but just in case the commercial history of premodern East Asia is the thing that floats your boat...

Meanwhile, [otherwise] has a good post on the trials and tribulations of Korean Studies as a subject in general and in particular on the situation in the UK where it looks as though SOAS might be the only institution teaching it before long.