When heritage meets pop culture: K-cinema

When the World Heritage Committee convenes in Busan on Sunday, much of its attention will fall on the celebrated physical legacies of Korea's dynastic past, from the royal tombs to the fortresses and palaces of the Joseon era that dot the country's list of World Heritage sites.

Impressive as those monuments are, they tell only half the story.

What brings that past to life like nothing else is the vast paper trail that came with it.

The Joseon Dynasty kept records with a thoroughness that borders ...