It seems strange to be writing a review of this Korean notebook now, as it represents a pre-COVID milestone for me. It was a gift from a friend who lives in South Korea. She came back to the US for a visit in February, and we talked about the shutdowns that were already happening in Korea due to the virus. She was the first person I spoke to about the coronavirus who seemed truly worried by how serious it could become, but of course even she had no idea what was about to happen in the US starting in March. Anyway, her visits are always special because she is a dear longtime friend, but also because she often brings me a Korean notebook as a gift!

This one is pretty cool. The brand name on the slip inside the packaging seems to be “Korean Tradition” but I can’t find any information about it online. It is an A5 size softcover notebook, quite thin but with a squared spine. It seems to be perfect-bound, with just glue instead of stitched or stapled signatures. It looks really snazzy, but the downside to this binding is that it doesn’t really open flat.

One detail I really like about it is that it has French flaps. I always think this is a nice detail on a paperback book, and I wonder why you don’t see it more on notebooks, as it makes the cover seem more substantial. I would think it would make it more durable too, at least in terms of corners bending. The cover is a smooth coated paper, with a lovely colorful design. There is no branding anywhere on it.

The inside of the Korean notebook is quite unusual– the right hand pages are all lined, but the left hand pages have 4 different designs. Most are blank with a border all around or on top, and then one section has an all-over blue and white pattern. The overall design is really cute.

Unfortunately the paper is not good with fountain pens, but it feels great to write on and handles a fine-point gel ink pen just fine. This was the same problem I had with one of the other few notebooks from Korea I have in my collection, the Iconic Essay book.

This Korean notebook says it costs 1000 won, which is about $0.92 in US dollars. What a bargain for such a colorful, fun notebook!