Travelogue explains kimchi, ceremonies and big Korean breakfasts to Iranian people


As Korea seeks to slacken trade ties with Iran in line with U.S. sanctions, a Persian author has written a book to bring the countries closer together.

Pooneh Nedai has published the first book about Korea in Iran to tell her country folk about the “dynamic dreamland” of Korea that she grew to love by traveling here.

The new release titled “Land of the Phoenix” is the first travelogue ever to be written in Persian about Korea.

And Nedai hopes the work will encourage travel between the two countries, and help them understand each other better. 

“My great desire is to help making a better understanding in cultural fields between Korean and Iranian people,” Nedai said, adding that about 7,000 people visit Korea from Iran each year.

“I hope even more visitors can travel between the two countries to experience the culture and the soul of the other country.”

The 164-page book was published in Tehran this month and the first edition of 1,500 copies is being distributed across the country, adding to the glimpse of Korea that dramas from here have already offered Iran.

“Iranian people are newly interested in Korean culture. But their information is related to the historical and modern Korean dramas,” Nedai explained.

“My friends called me after watching each episode of a Korean drama and asked about many things about Korea like what kimchi is or why they prepare so much food for breakfast, or about the ceremonies. All the time I had to explain about what I understood about Korean culture. At last I wrote the book in order to give the whole knowledge I have got from Korea.”

The book contains colorful pictures that Nedai took herself during her nine trips to Korea, as well as descriptions of food, culture and scenery she experienced along the way. She also interviewed Song Il-Gook and poet Ko Un, who she calls “the poet of the winds.”

And she said she felt very close to Korean people during her travels here.

“When I traveled to Korea in 2006 for the first time, I could feel a very near sense to people and places as if I had lived with Korean people a long time ago,” she said.

Then I could find much common sense with Korean people. I liked the honesty, hyperactivity, and the very special smile of Korean people, I could feel how people love their country and they are proud of themselves.”

Also, Iranians and Koreans were similar in their approach to family and respect for their elders. But in spite of her friendly encounters, she said that people here still did not understand Iranians well.

“I wish Korean people in the future can know more about Iranian culture. I hope Korean people will know more about Iranian literature and art. Then they can recognize the Iranian identity which is completely separate from Arab countries,” she said. “Sometimes I have felt misunderstanding of Iranian identity and culture in Korea. Although Arab people are our brothers and sisters, there is difference in both history and culture.”

In spite of such challenges, Nedai praised Korea for being like the mythical Phoenix, because of the way it rose again following the destruction of the Korean War.

“Korea is a fresh place to be discovered continuously,” she added. “Korea is a dynamic dreamland where many dreams come true.”

By Kirsty Taylor (kirstyt@heraldcorp.com)