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 I studied historical geography to become a geographer. Among the various branches of historical geography, I studied urban historical geography on Seoul during the Japanese Occupation for my graduate course. Since I joined the Northeast Asian History Foundation, I have been in charge of duties in relation to marking the East Sea and Dokdo on old maps of the East and West. As I familiarized myself with countless old maps, I found myself developing into an old map researcher. Along the way, I began to think more deeply about the historical context of old maps, going beyond the mere task of making markings. During my career as a college lecturer for cartography, I questioned myself, ‘How have old maps developed over time?’, ‘What is the historical context of the production of maps?’, and ‘How were maps used?’, but I did not have the time to put them in writing.

Then, in February 2021, I was given the chance to give ten lectures under the theme of “Map, the window to the world” through a television show titled EBS Class-E. It was a great opportunity to concretize my thoughts that only existed inside my head. After supplementing the lecture contents for a year, I was finally able to publish the book World History on the Map through EBS Books on August 15, 2022.

 World History on the Map is comprised of ten chapters: Babylonian Map of the World, Ptolemy's world map, the Hereford Mappa Mundi, Al-Idrisi’s world map, Pei Xiu’s six principles for cartography, Mercator's Atlas, Cassini's map of France, Honilgangniyeokdaegukdojido (Unified Map of Territories and Capitals of the States), Kim Dae-geon’s Joseonjeondo (The Complete Map of Joseon) and Kim Jeong-ho’s Daedongyeojido (The Large-Scale Map of Joseon), and John Snow’s map of cholera outbreaks. As the self-explanatory titles tell, this book covers the periods from 600 B.C. to the 19th century, and the regions of Europe, Asia, North Africa, and more. They touch on the topics of outlook on the universe and world, the shape and measurement of Earth, map as a means for national management, maps and commerce, and so forth. The book's title, World History on the Map, reflects its enormous scope in terms of time and space, as well as themes.

 Old maps are the meeting points of geography and history, as well as philosophy of perceiving the world and the daily lives of people of the past. They also reflect the academic and technological level of the time a map was created, as well as the developmental stage of painting and printing. This book includes explanations of not only geographic information from old maps but also the background of each period, the purpose of cartography, and the view of the world by people of the past. Ultimately, I hoped to propose the method of reading old maps.

 In the past, it was not easy for us to see old maps in person. Only those with authority had access to old maps, which were kept safely in museums or libraries. Public access to some replicates in forms of art brochures was typical. Fortunately, the recent development in digital technology has made it possible to view numerous old maps of the world through the web. In particular, the websites of the Library of Congress of the U.S., the National Library of France, and David Rumsey Historical Map Collection offer access to old maps. As for Korean sources, the websites of the National Library of Korea, Seoul National University Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, and the Academy of Korean Studies offer digital copies of old maps.

Literature materials are the fundamental records for historical research, but old maps make it easier to understand spatial concepts of people of the past that are challenging to interpret through written sources alone. I wish more people read World History on the Map so that more researchers across the world and the general public will become interested in old maps. It is my hope that they employ various old maps in their studies and writing, as well as in the development of educational content.