This book intends to be a reaction to a remarkable paradox within Korean studies, easily encountered even by non-experts. While many Korean studies journals strongly encourage the submission of "multicultural" and "transnational" articles, in fact, very few scholars in the world are able to receipt this message.

The volume analyzes various episodes of confrontation, both "physical" and "cultural", between the people of Korea and foreign counterparts (i.e.: the "others") in various historical moments. It was devised and born within the Humanities Korea Plus (HK+) Project entitled Collectio, collatio, connectio, which is sponsored by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea and is currently underway at Anyang University in Anyang City, Republic of Korea. This project aims to explore documents on relations and exchanges between East and West, especially (but not only) in pre-modern times and it aspires to serve as a turning point in the history of comparative and transnational studies on Korea. In doing so, it also attempts to address deficiencies in existing scholarship, especially with regard to comparisons between the Far East (and Korea in particular) and the cultures of the Near/Middle East and the classic and medieval West.

It follows that this volume has as its target a rather broad academic audience, not limited merely to the field of Korean studies, but ranging from the ancient Mediterranean to Japan, passing through medieval and modern Europe.