South Korea Ancient and Modern with the Commonwealth Club

Step through the gates of a royal palace and into the long history of Korea. Just beyond the palace walls, Seoul unfolds as one of the world’s most technologically advanced cities, where glass towers rise beside gates that have watched over the capital for more than six centuries. In Korea, past and present exist side by side, and each place reveals another chapter in a story that stretches from ancient kingdoms to the modern nation.

Travel from the palaces and museums of Seoul to the Demilitarized Zone, where the unresolved legacy of the Korean War remains visible across one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders. Continue south to Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom, where grassy royal tombs and Buddhist temples preserve the legacy of a civilization that shaped the Korean peninsula for nearly a millennium.

In Busan, Korea’s great southern port, explore markets and memorials that reflect the country’s maritime heritage and wartime history. Your journey concludes on Jeju Island, a volcanic landscape of waterfalls, crater lakes, and coastal villages. Here, the legendary haenyeo women divers continue a centuries-old tradition recognized by UNESCO, while the island’s museums and memorials reveal another layer of Korea’s complex past.

Along the way, conversations with scholars, guides, and local hosts provide insight into a culture that balances deep continuity with extraordinary transformation.