A century before Korea rose to become an economic powerhouse, it was viewed by most Westerners as a distant, obscure country fraught with conflict between its larger neighbors: China, Japan and Russia.

When Hermann Gustav Theodor Sander (1868-1945), as documents suggest, was appointed as a military attache to the German Embassy in Japan in 1905, he probably had no idea what he would bring home after his two-year stay in Asia. [...]

What Hwang Kyung-sook, a former journalist in Korea, saw was none other than an astounding discovery illuminating her home country at the dawn of the 20th century. Those photographs, colonial postcards, letters and documents ― over 300 in all ― from one man's journey to Asia in 1906 and 1907, are now on display at the exhibition, "A German, Hermann Sander's Journey" at the National Folk Museum of Korea in downtown Seoul. [...]

"A German, Hermann Sander's Journey" runs until Aug. 28 at the National Folk Museum of Korea. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily except for Tuesdays. Admission is 3,000 won ($2.60) for adults; 1,500 won for youth ages 7 and 18, and free for children under age 6. For more information, call (02) 3704-3151 or visit the Web site, www.nfm.go.kr.