Malgŭm's Lawsuit

This story is adapted from the Introduction of Jisoo Kim’s The Emotions of Justice. This story demonstrates that female slaves had the same capacity for legal representation as anyone else in Chosŏn. Kim explains the significance of an emotion called wŏn in how slaves retained these rights in the Chosŏn legal system. In the English-speaking world there is limited information about Korean history, especially these kinds of details about the lives of commoners or slaves. Additionally, this information is often kept within insular, scholastic circles, inaccessible to many outside of academia. This retelling in a storybook format is intended to make this story more accessible to an English-speaking audience of any age or education level. The illustrations were created using contemporary Chosŏn illustrations and paintings for reference, but giving them a modernized and simplified style to suit the storybook genre. The illustrations provide a visual context for the readers to be immersed into the story. Utilizing rounded shapes and clean lines, the art looks to recreate the classic fashions and aesthetics of contemporary Chosŏn art in a unique, updated style. Ideally, a storybook like this would serve to peak a reader’s interest in the history of Chosŏn. Increasing global awareness of Korean history and challenging the Euro-centric view of world history is important so that the lessons learned from these lesser-told stories are not lost to history.

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