I actually got introduced to Korean myths via two of the series in Rick Riordan Presents' collection lol: The Gifted Clans series by Graci Kim and the Thousand Worlds series by Yoon Ha Lee. The former is a traditional adventure fantasy trilogy in the same vein as Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, while the latter is a sci-fi fantasy trilogy that combines the Korean mythology and folklore with a futuristic space setting.
I really like the latter series and it's what got me into Korean mythology so much recently lol. The author did a really great job combining the two genres together, and I really like how he uses the main characters' abilities. The Gifted Clans is also decent as well, though I felt the prose could be better and admittedly I just preferred a sci-fi setting more lol.
The story of Ungnyeo sounds pretty interesting! I really feel like East Asia mythologies have a lot of tales involving animals transforming into humans or vice versa lol. It's pretty interesting. Aside from the Gumiho, I also find the Inmyeonjo fascinating. It's a bird with a human face, kinda like the Harpies or an interpretation of Sirens from the western myths. This one shows up in the Gifted Clans trilogy as well :)
I didn’t know there are this many half-bird people from cultures all around the world lol. In Southeast Asia and India there’s also the Kinnara (or Kinnaree if female), a half-human, half-bird creature often associated with music and love. I used to find them pretty cool back when I was younger :)
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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 8d ago
In my case, the very first Korean myth I've heard of was Ungnyeo (a female bear that managed to become a woman)