[Jim McDougall]

A very interesting topic indeed Drd!! Thank you for posting this.
The subject of Korean swords is extremely esoteric and the weapons themselves most elusive. I recall looking for a Korean sword of any kind for years unsuccessfully. In one instance which proved most interesting, I noticed one of the occasionally seen ads where a distinguished gentleman from Japan would set up in a local hotel, and offered free appraisals on Japanese swords. This was of course a 'sweep' to obtain authentic Samurai weapons taken at the end of WWII.

I spoke to the gentleman through an interpreter, and even showed him a photo of a Korean sword hilt (one with the octagonal guard). He pushed away the photo and was not only reluctant to look at it, but refused to discuss any further, insisting he had no idea what 'that' sword was.

Apparantly Korean swords are extremely rare, and most were confiscated and destroyed during the occupation of Korea by Japan from 1910-1945. The examples known are typically referred to as either Chosun dynasty (Joseon) as seen in the site posted here, or as Yi dynasty, both referring to the same 'period' which extends from 1392-1910.

The only reference work known to have been published in English is:
"Korean Weapons and Armor" by J.L. Boots in
"Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society" Vol.XXIV, Dec. 1934, pt.II

This and other weapons research on Chinese weapons was naturally tremendously impacted by geopolitical events of the 1930's and WWII, and fortunately these limited references survived.

The only other references I have seen are in the work of Philip Tom and Scott Rodell, which offer outstanding descriptions, in addition to this most interesting site.

Now the question is...anybody out there have something Korean to post!!??