JACK LONDON AND KOREA

Broadly historical in its approach, this article explores the extent to which Jack London obtained material for his writing from the experiences he had while serving as a correspondent covering the Russo-Japanese War in Korea. It argues that from this material London wrote such literary works as the short story “A Nose for the King” (1906), the historical essay “The Yellow Peril” (1904), and some portion of his memorable fantasy novel, The Star Rover (1915). This article claims further that in these works London not only revealed his racist prejudices towards Korea and its people, but also that information on Korea is sometimes inaccurate and unreliable.