Korea's Introduction to the Automobile
It is unclear when the first automobile was introduced into Korea. Some speculate Burton Holmes was the first to travel in Korea during the early 1900s with an automobile, but whether he was or wasn't the first to do so, I cannot verify. It is known, however, that in 1910, C. A. Crispin, a real-estate speculator turned miner from California, wrote home and reported that there were only two cars in Korea: one was a small car owned by Mr. Lefre, a French businessman in Seoul, and the other, a $5,000 French car owned by one of the gold mine owners. Crispin noted that the roads in Korea were undeveloped and having an automobile was "next to useless." His opinions were evidently not shared by all.
In mid-1910, a Korean who lived in Seoul and allegedly knew nothing of cars imported two French Paige Cars and began Korea's love of the automobile.
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