A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

A sick graduate is mistakenly arrested by spirit soldiers because he shares the intended prisoner’s name. Their ruler releases him and asks that his former household send a new coat, proving his identity through a damaged rank-button hidden in the third volume of the Book of History. The accompanying guards identify the ruler as Pak Oo.

Returning after three days apparently dead, the graduate delivers the message. Pak’s skeptical sons find the button where predicted and burn the requested garment as an offering. Both the household and the messenger subsequently dream of the dead official thanking them. Im Bang names Choi Yu-chom of Hai-ju as his informant.

This is a particular deceased man represented as holding an office in the afterlife. It is not evidence that all Korean Yom-na narratives identify their ruler as Pak Oo. Gale’s bracketed biography and footnote are editorial additions; the story’s own family lineage and ritual claims remain attributed to the narrator.

Deceased official holding an underworld kingshipTale-specific identity
01

Origins & earliest records

Korea; tale-specific historical narrative

02

Records & interpretation

Complete story and attribution read in the 1913 English witness; no independent confirmation of supernatural events.

In the literature

“you have thus been wrongly arrested”
Im Bang · Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies
Tale34, The King of Yom-na (Hell), printed p.166 (Gutenberg marker178) · James S. Gale

The unnamed graduate is released because he shares the intended person’s name.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

    Im Bang; translated by James S. Gale · 1913

    Tale 34, “The King of Yom-na (Hell)”, printed pp. 165–170 (Gutenberg page labels 177–182). English translation date, not the date of the narrated event.

  2. 02

    Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies — The King of Yom-na (Hell)

    Im Bang · 1913

    London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, actual title page. Gale preface distinguishes Im Bang old manuscript, thirteen Yi Ryuk stories from1911 reprint, and three anonymous selections. Complete selected chapter/signature read; no Korean manuscript collation. Printed pagination checked in retained1913 PDF OCR; Gutenberg body markers are printed+12, physical PDFpages printed+16. No new page-pixel claim. Gale death1937 confirmed by UniversityToronto archival finding aid.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

Im Bang; James S. Gale translation, London Dent/New York Dutton, 1913. Tale 34, “The King of Yom-na (Hell)”, pp. 177–182

Complete story and author signature read from cached Gutenberg51002 HTML. Translator’s bracketed introductions and author notes distinguished from narrative. No illustration claimed.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

London:J.M.Dent/NewYork:E.P.Dutton1913, actual title page. Gale preface distinguishes Im Bang old manuscript, thirteen Yi Ryuk stories from1911 reprint, and three anonymous selections. Complete selected chapter/signature read; no Korean manuscript collation. Printed pagination checked in retained1913 PDF OCR; Gutenberg body markers are printed+12, physical PDFpages printed+16. No new page-pixel claim. Gale death1937 confirmed by UniversityToronto archival finding aid.

  1. An ill graduate is chained by spirit soldiers and taken to an imposing royal court. The ruler discovers mistaken identity and releases him but asks that his living family send a replacement coat. To prove the message, he describes a broken head button secretly hidden in volumeIII of the Book of History. Guards identify him as Pak Oo and push the graduate into a river, after which he wakes from three days of apparent death.

    Tale34, The King of Yom-na (Hell), printed pp.165–168, arrest and underworld commission

  2. Pak Oo’s two sons initially dismiss the visitor but locate the specified button, accept his message and arrange the coat offering. The graduate and family later dream thanks. Im Bang says Pak Oo was Pak Chom’s great-grandson and explicitly identifies graduate Choi Yu-chom at Hai-ju as his story source.

    Tale34, The King of Yom-na (Hell), printed pp.168–170, living family verification and source transmission

Title Yom-na and guards’ king-of-Hades identification are retained as selected wording; no universal system of Buddhist rulers imposed. Commission and confirmation are narrative facts. Claimed lineage, shared dream and source chain belong to this authored account; no newly verified civil genealogy. J.S.Gale’s insignia footnote is a translator note, separate from Im Bang’s narrative.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical primary narrative translationTale 34, “The King of Yom-na (Hell)”, printed pp. 165–170 (Gutenberg page labels 177–182) — Im Bang, Gale translationResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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