Korean Job Discussion Forums

[yeongil]

I'm a US gyopo, and as long as I can remember, I was interested in my family tree. My current project is to catalog all descendants, male & female, of my great-great-grandfather, who lived in the late 19th-early 20th century. Getting info on the descendants in my generation (apparently, I'm the oldest son/oldest son/oldest son/oldest son of my great-great-grandfather), and maybe the descendants of my father's generation, should not be a problem, especially since I will be returning to Korea for the summer.

The problem is going to be the descendants of my grandfather's and my great-grandfather's generation. Many families have a family association or some organization that publishes books that contains their family tress. There is a family association for my family name, and they did publish a two-volume set a few years ago listing many of the descendants of our originating ancestor (from the 14th century?). However, the book is full of mistakes, and many names were missing. Apparently you had to pay to get your name in the books.

I could also try my luck with the cemeteries, but graves can be hard to find. I did see my great-great-grandfather's grave, but the gravestone didn't list his birthdate(!?!?).

I have a copy of my father's family registry and my mother's family registry (호적등본). My lack of Korean skills notwithstanding (b/c I have relatives there who can speak English and can help translate), how hard will it be for me to seek out the family registries for my great-grandfather and his siblings, and for my grandfather and his siblings and cousins? Would they even exist anymore?

Even if they do exist, where are all the records kept? In Seoul? Or in each town? If I have to I could venture out to 전라북보, the province where my father's family (and my mother's) came from. Are the family registries computerized now? And are they accessible via the internet?

I know that there are some difficulties with regard to the family registries:
* Records may not have been kept, or destroyed, due to Japanese occupation. My mother actually told me that, but I think she wasn't being truthful then.
* How were the dates entered? I didn't realize until a few years ago that a person could have two birthdates, one for the Gregorian calendar, and one for the lunar calendar.
* The family registries of my parents do not show dates of marriage, but rather, dates that someone in the family reported the marriage.
* The family registries themselves could have inaccurate information. Many of the birthdates of my uncles and aunts from my mother's side are wrong. My maternal grandfather didn't report the births of this children in a timely fashion, so in order to avoid a penalty, he would report their birthdates to be a year (or even two) later than they actually were.
*The family registries probably won't show the baptism names of the family members (our family is Catholic). It didn't on my father's.

Despite these problems, I still would like to have copies of any family register I can get, to maintain a collection of records for myself. If anyone here could help me with accessing old family registries, I would appreciate it.


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[Ut videam]

[yeongil]

(Bump in hope for more responses)


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