About Béo

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Travel slowly. Get to know the people.

Hi, I'm Béo. I live in Seoul and deliver food for a living, which means I've seen more of this city's back alleys than Google Street View has. When there's a gap between orders, I stop and photograph the corners that never make it into a guidebook.

Béo in a Cubs cap, laughing on a hillside above a village in Lushoto, Tanzania
Me in Lushoto, Tanzania, September 27, 2011.

My first real trip was India, in January 2005. I've been back six times since, so that's seven trips so far. I've also spent time in the US, Africa and Europe, but these days I mostly travel around Asia.

On paper, I'm a North Korea specialist. I studied North Korea for my bachelor's and master's, and finished my PhD coursework (the dissertation is still waiting for me). As an undergrad I visited North Korea five times. After my master's, I worked on a Child Aid project in a remote part of Zambia. Then I came home, finished my coursework, and somehow ended up on a delivery bike.

My wife Hạ came to Korea from Vietnam to study. She's from the Dao Tiền ethnic minority. I first went to Vietnam in December 2011, long before I met her. After we married, I tried a few Vietnam-related businesses. None of them worked. These days we go back and forth between Korea and Vietnam, and her hometown in Tuyên Quang is the closest thing I have to a second home.

What you'll find here

  • Hidden Seoul: ordinary neighborhoods, back alleys and local spots, plus what you need to know to visit them.
  • Vietnam: travel and family life away from the usual tourist trail.
  • North Korea: notes from five visits and years of studying the place.
  • India: what seven trips have taught me.
  • Zambia: stories from my time in rural Africa.

Everything here happened to me, and every photo is mine. If I haven't been somewhere, I won't write about it.

Say hi on Instagram (@offbeat.traveler.seoul) or Facebook. For collaborations or anything else, email me at yjmks@naver.com.

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