Peter Paul Rubens probably made this portrait of a Korean man in formal costume as an independent work of art. Since contact between Europe and Korea was almost non-existent in Rubens's time, the means by which he came into contact with a Korean in Antwerp remains a mystery.

In the background, Rubens sketched a small boat to emphasize that his sitter was a visitor from a distant place, but he was clearly more interested in the man and his costume than in providing a detailed setting.

The drawing is one of Rubens's most meticulous portraits, enriched by the highlights added to the man's face. Fascinated by the play of light on the silk, Rubens used the softness of the black chalk and the whiteness of the paper to create the man's shimmering costume. This drawing later inspired one of the central figures in Rubens's painting The Miracles of Saint Francis Xavier in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.