Koreapedia

Koreapedia

August 2025. This is the Koreapedia Genesis Article. The first article on Koreapedia. Welcome to the birth of Koreapedia.

Koreapedia is an English-based multilingual wiki encyclopedia about Korea.

Soon the entire 1,300 articles of The Encyclopedia of Korea will be uploaded as the seed content of Koreapedia.

Founded in 2025 by Korean-Australian cultural advocate Dai-Kyu "Kimbo" Kim (김대규 金大圭) who envisioned a digital resource to bridge the gap between Korea and non-Koreans by addressing the lack of accessible, foreign language content about Korea, and improve ways for non-Koreans to engage with Korea and Koreans.

Koreapedia seeks to bridge the language and cultural gaps by offering a platform and tools for discovery, language learning, and cross cultural exchange.

Think "crowdsourced-knowledge + language-learning + social-engagement" about Korea.

Mission

Enable non-Korean speakers to learn about Korea, contribute their knowledge and insights about Korea, and meaningfully connect with Korea and Koreans by breaking down the Korean language barrier through technology-enabled discovery, interaction and engagement, while conversely empowering Koreans to more actively and meaningfully engage with foreigners.

Scope

The platform targets a diverse global audience, including Koreaphiles, overseas Koreans (재외동포 jaeoe dongpo or 교포 gyopo), Korean language learners, travellers visiting Korea, foreign residents in Korea, business professionals, and "K-wavers" (fans of Korean popular culture).

Koreapedia aims to provide a user friendly Multilingual resource that allows users to explore Korean culture and topics in depth, learn the Korean language using topic-based context, and connect with others who share similar interests both within and outside Korea.

Background

Kimbo with his mother Yanghi and sister Mikyung (Miki) at beautiful Sydney Harbour shortly after arriving in Australia, circa 1965.

Koreapedia was inspired by Kimbo's personal journey reconnecting with his Korean roots after immigrating to Australia at age 4 and losing his spoken Korean.

Motivated by the difficulties he faced on Korean visits due to language loss and cultural distance, Kimbo envisioned a tool that could empower others facing similar barriers, to "Connect their Inner Korean".

Bridging East-West language and cultural barriers - a century old family legacy: Koreapedia builds on the academic legacy of his mother, Dr. Yang Hi Choe-Wall (최양희, 崔洋姬), a noted scholar of Korean literature and a Classical Korean manuscript translator who opened Western eyes to old and new Korea. She is the compiler and editor of The Encyclopedia of Korea, a foundational reference work documenting Korean culture, history and society. It is the only Encyclopedia about Korea in English and will be donated as the foundational content of Koreapedia.

Additionally, Koreapedia honours the academic legacy of Kimbo's maternal grandfather, Dr. Jae-Seo Choe (최재서, 崔載瑞), a pioneering figure in introducing English literature to Korea, as well as translating several English classics into Korean in the mid-20th century.

Project Start

Video call on Lunar New Year 2025 at the summit of a 2400 metre snow covered mountain in the Altai Mountains.

All good creation stories need a "foundation myth". Often involving mountain summits and auspicious dates, etc. This is Koreapedia's.

It was Lunar New Year 2025 at the summit of a 2400 metre (approx 7900 ft) snow covered mountain in the Altai Mountains of Central Asia and Western China (the Altai Mountains region is considered an ancestral homeland for Koreans). I had a video call from my mum (mom) about Koreapedia.

The result from the call? - Let's do it. Let's push the button on Koreapedia.

* Image not staged or photoshopped. It is the actual screenshot of the call. I screen-captured it to send to mum because the scenery was so spectacular at that moment. Never expected the image to capture an important moment in my life.

Community and Collaboration

Koreapedia functions as a collaborative social wiki, inviting enthusiasts from Korea and worldwide to contribute their knowledge and experiences.

This community driven model aligns with the principles of collaborative writing, where shared ownership and diverse perspectives can enhance the quality and depth of content.

While AI tools can assist in content generation and outlining, the platform will emphasize human contribution and scrutiny, which is crucial for wiki platforms to ensure accuracy and authenticity.

Koreapedia's model will rely on its community of Korea fans and Koreans to "write the narrative of Korea" in English and other World Languages.

CLEWS Language Learning (2026)

Koreapedia will transform two-way English<>Korean language learning by seamlessly integrating practice into the wiki with CLEWS (Collaborative Language Education Wiki System) and transform both wiki and language learning into an engaging social experience.

• Content-Based Instruction (CBI) using Koreapedia articles as lesson content
• Sentence mining lessons directly from Koreapedia article sentences, allowing users to more easily acquire new vocabulary and phrases by covering topics they're passionate about
• Tandem and Group Language Exchanges formed around Koreapedia articles as Social Learning Circles

Platform Overview 2025-2026

Koreapedia combines a wiki with social features to enhance knowledge engagement and learning. Its core offerings include:

• 2025: Soft-launched Koreapedia.wiki beta version: To be seeded with content from The Encyclopedia of Korea (1999)http://hdl.handle.net/1885/10445 by Dr. Yang Hi Choe-Wall, the only English Language Encyclopedia about Korea. (Not to be confused with The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia_of_Korean_Culture, which is in Korean.)
• 2025: Pre-launch Social Wiki Community Features (Phase 1) beta versions: User Personal Profiles
• 2026: Social Wiki Community Features (Phase 1) beta versions: Multilingual Forums and Clubs
• 2026: AI Research Tools: To assist Koreapedians deep dive learn about Korean topics, and create content for Koreapedia*
• 2026: Contextual Language Learning: Content-Based Instruction (CBI) thematically based on Koreapedia.wiki articles using the Sentence-Mining technique and Tandem Exchanges*
• 2026: Social Wiki Community Features (Phase 2): Topic-based Language Exchange Groups connecting learners with native speakers, and Clubs for virtual and in-person events centred around Korean media, culture, food and language*

Feature Release Timeline (est.) 2025-2026

The platform is being developed in multiple phases, with the beta wiki release (August 2025) which you are reading now. Future development for 2026 and 2027 will expand functionality with:

• 2025: Koreapedia Wiki (Beta released August 2025)
• 2025: User Personal Profiles (koreapedia.wiki/me/[SocialProfile])
• 2025: Forums with topic focused sub-forums (e.g. k/KoreatownLA, k/BTS)
• 2026: Clubs for online/offline activities/events* (koreapedia.wiki/club/[ClubName])
• 2026: Korean language AI research assistant for non-Korean speaking Koreapedian editors*
• 2026: Language Sentence-Mining modules*
• 2026: Language Tandem Exchanges*
• 2026: Events/Meetup set-up "Sessions" Pages
• 2026: Mobile travel and booking assistant* (TBD)

* paid premium services

References

• Koreapedia. (n.d.). Koreapedia Official Site. Retrieved from https://koreapedia.net
• Encyclopedia of Korea (1999) Australian National University http://hdl.handle.net/1885/10445
• Dr. Yang Hi Choe-Wall (최양희, 崔洋姬) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Hi_Choe-Wall
• Dr. Jae-Seo Choe (최재서, 崔載瑞) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choi_Jae-seo, https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/최재서, https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0057618
• Dai-Kyu "Kimbo" Kim (김대규 金大圭) SocialProfile:Daikyukim.kr

Project URLs & Contact

1. Koreapedia (n.d.). Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574411396788
2. Kim, D. (n.d.). Email: kimbo[at]koreapedia[dot]net
3. Kim, D. (n.d.). KakaoTalk ID: daikyukim
4. Kim, D. (n.d.). Instagram: [at]daikyukim
5. Kim, D. (n.d.). Twitter/X: [at]daikyukim
6. Kim, D. (n.d.). Telegram: [at]daikyukim