Excellent post that makes me reflect. Correct me if I am wrong in my assessment.

In traditional Korean culture, there is a very important place to the God of the mountain represented by the tiger, the decoration of the temples, indicate a great syncretism with religious currents originating from other countries such as India with Buddhism, China with the Confucianism and Taoism. From Japan, I only see political influence through wars, but not a cultural influence it. Perhaps, I also have to look a little in this country to visualize its impact on Korea.

In pre-Columbian America, some cultures also revered felines (Jaguars) and snakes (Perhaps symbolizing dragons), in that sense, now I find a lot of cultural similarities.

Thanks for your interesting post.