For activities subversive of the Russian Empire, he had spent many years in Siberian exile.

Sieroszewski's Siberian experiences became the subjects of his many stories and novels—Na kresach lasów (At the Edge of the Woods, 1894), Dno nędzy (The Depths of Misery, 1900), Risztau (1899), Ucieczka (The Escape, 1904), Zamorski diabeł (The Overseas Devil, 1900).

He arrived via boat to Busan, then traveled through the peninsula with an interpreter, speaking with locals on the way to the capital Seoul.

[2] The trip appeared to make an impression on him, and he would frequently mention Korea in later interviews.

He once likened Korea's political situation, in which multiple foreign powers were encroaching on it, to Poland's.