Have you ever heard the name ‘Hong Gildong?’ Everyone who has spent time living in Korea probably hears the name at least once.

It’s the name of a traditional fictional character, but it is also used like ‘John Doe’, for example on sample forms you see in banks, airports, and public offices.

Hong Gildong’s birthplace

Hong Gildong is the name of the main character in the first Korean novel written in hangeul instead of literary Chinese, titled Hong Gildong Jeon. In the story he is portrayed as a Robin Hood type of figure who steals to help the poor. Every Korean knows the story, and that’s how his name came to be the most common example of a name.

Recently, some scholars have begun to claim that the novel was based on a real character by that name. The township of Hwangnyong-myeon, in Jangseong-gu, South Jeolla province, claims it has restored the house Hong Gildong was born in and has turned the structure into a tourist attraction.

You, too, should take the time to visit his ‘birthplace’ if you have an interest in someone who used mystical means to appear out of nowhere and vanish again as he punished those involved in corruption.

Source From: Arirang