Korean fox lore, which comes from China (from sources probably
originating in India and overlapping with Sumerian lamia lore),
is relatively straightforward compared to the complex body of
fox culture that evolved in Japan. The Japanese fox spirit, or
kitsune, is remarkably sophisticated, probably due to its
resonance with the indigenous Shinto religion, and the fox
spirits of Japan can be male or female, malign or benign. In
Korea, the demonic fox is called a kumiho; they are almost
exclusively female, and almost always evil. Korean fox women are
generally seductive creatures that entice unwary scholars and
travelers with the lure of their sexuality and the illusion of
their beauty and riches. They drain the men of their yang (their
masculine force) and leave them dissipated or dead (in much the
same way as the fairy woman in Keats's poem "La Belle Dame Sans
Merci" leaves her parade of hapless male victims). The Korean
kumiho is most often used as a cautionary symbol for the danger
of female sexuality. Tradi