Some very good observations here
1) In which areas of the game will we be strong?
As OFW and Greebley have both noted, we get discounted culture buildings, and library is therefore a better prospect for us than temples. This, in turn, means literature is an important tech for us.
Research is a strong point. In most high-level games buying tech is far more feasible than self-research; on emperor we suffer a 20% penalty to research. Also, gold in hand is far more flexible than beakers invested. Gold in hand allows us to trade or buy things we need, it allows us to upgrade, it allows us to cash rush (once out of despotism) etc. Beakers invested in research are a closed account - they only get us towards one specific technology and significantly reduce our flexibility vis-a-vis running all cash.
As Greebley notes, however, we get a discount on the research-multiplying improvements and get more cash out of commercial; self-research is very much more feasible than in most games, therefore.
2) What advantages do we get as the Koreans?
Obviously the advantages of being scientific and commercial. We start with the most expensive first rank tech (alphabet) giving us an excellent early trading piece. Our other tech (bronze working) is one of the most useful first rank techs as we can build spears from the off, and we are close to iron working.
Another advantage of the starting techs is the techs they lead to. We have the option of min science runs on two good 2nd rank techs (iron working and writing). Whether we will do this remains to be seen, but we do have the option.
There is one advantage of commercial that neither of you have pointed out, and it is the more important of commercial's benefits: lower corruption!! We have 25% less OCN-related corruption. This will give us an early boost, and in the long-term, will give us a more productive empire and allow us to have a larger empire with less corruption than a non-commercial civ.
Originally posted by OneFastWarrior
Our strong point is Commercial. We will have 1 extra gpt in each city to start, and the corruption will be low, so research low and trading for techs would be to our advantage. also with the extra money we would be brining in, we would be able to upgrade more effectively.
any thoughts on this observation?
My thought on that observation is that it is incorrect
Commercial gives you 1 extra gpt per city FROM SIZE 7 onwards. You do NOT get 1 extra gold per city from the start. This means that the extra gold is the weaker part of commercial's advantages.
Logically, therefore, we want to get our cities large as quickly as possible and reach size 7 as quickly as possible. Of course, at the start we will be looking to build many workers and settlers but we should be aware that getting to size 7 has an important extra boon for us. We are in a wet world so there should be plenty of rivers to build our cities on. Otherwise, we can prioritize aqueducts to get our cities to size 7.
Similarly, the extra gold from being commercial can be magnified by building markets/banks/exchanges (to multiply tax revenue) and by building libraries/uni's/labs (to multiply research revenue).
To sum that up more simply, large cities with multiplying improvements and a governemnt that gives a trade bonus (republic or democracy) = lots of money for the Koreans!!!
Our UU, on the other hand, is not that useful. The Hwach'a is an improved cannon. Now I'm a fan of artillery of all types, but remember, the Hwach'a is in the age of cavalry. Cavalry have move 3, Hwach'a move 1. This makes the Hwach'a almost useless for offensive campaigns where we push deep into enemy territory. It is still useful in defending our borders, to knock HPs off enemy units and it can fire in attack and defence, but it is unlikely to make a huge difference in any game. Artillery of all types only really come into their own after rails, when you can move large stacks very quickly, and when you need to bombard cities down to weaken their defenders and to kill population to reduce defence bonuses.
An important point that you need to be aware of wrt Hwach'a: it can't set off a Golden Age! The only way to do this as Korea is through wonders.
3) How will we fare over time?
Commercial and Scientific are the two slowest-developing traits. At the start of the game, we will have the weakest traits of all. Think of the other traits: we don't get fast map exploration and early boosts like expansionist, we don't get fast terraforming like industrious, we don't get the cheap temples of religious and we don't get the cheap barracks and fast promotion of militaristic.
The only advantage we will have at the start of the game is the lower rate of corruption (this is not insignificant). The quicker we get to literature, the quicker we can bring another strength into play, half-priced libraries.
Our strength will begin to grow in the early middle ages as we get city improvements built, such as markets, libraries, universities and banks, and as our cities get nice and large, accumulating plenty of commerce.
From the industrial ages onwards, while most other traits are in decline, our traits will continue to grow in strength. Think about it: expansionist will be useless, industrious is not so important when most terrain improvemenst have been done and when you're likely to have lots of workers anyway, religious is very weak when you've had your revolutions and you've built your temples and cathedrals; militaristic continues to be strong in battle, but the benefit of the cheap barracks and harbours has passed. But think about scientific and commercial: as scientific you still have a free industrial and modern tech and you still have cheap labs to come; and commercial keeps growing in strength as you build hospitals and get your cities to size 20, and the lower corruption is more important with a larger empire.
Another strong time for us is at the beginning of every age. Does everyone know how scientific slingshots work? If not, I'll be happy to explain
Finally, one thing that OFW and Greebley both mentioned which I want to cover: saving money for the warrior-swordsman upgrade. Why? In most emperor games, a sword rush is not a wise tactic, because the AI players will be much stronger than you at such an early juncture. Also, to be really effective, you need veteran warriors, ie, barracks to be built early. This is unlikely to happen, as there are many more pressing concerns early in a game. In some circumstances the sword-rush can work, and in some games you may have no choice if you get a very poor landgrab. But if you're playing a standard game, never go into that game with preconceived ideas! Civ 3 has a habit of laying your best plans to dirt. Keeping cash in hand for upgrading units is wise; relying on early rush tactics is not. Always keep your options open - that way you can deal with a bum hand. If you commit yourself to one particular tactic without taking the circumstances into account, you leave yourslef vulnerable (eg, what if there is no iron?
).
Any sign of Yaype? Has he perhaps been affected by the north American power problems?
symbol is bandied about too much, I feel, and won't be used in this game 
. Generally, barracks is a low priority at the start of the game, but it depends...if we do turn out to be food poor, we may well build one early. If we find a neighbour on our doorstep, again we may build one early. We have to wait and see. My answer would be, we do not go out of our way to build veteran warriors, but if the indications are that we need to go to war early, then we might do so. But as you discern, in most circumstances going to war early on emperor is inadvisable. Their starting units are too strong and the emperor shield discount they receive is magnified when you have very few cities. Most importantly, that early on just one or two combat results can completely turn your game, and it is very risky to trust your fate to the RNG!!
