London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Im Kwon-taek shines at KCC

Matthew Jackson’s impressions from last Thursday’s screening of “Beyond the Years” at the Korean Cultural Centre There is definitely something extra that you get out of going to see a film in the company of people that you do not necessarily know, in surroundings that are not quite the same as any other you are … [Read More]

LKL has (crash) landed

If you can read this post on my website, it’s because, magically, I’ve managed to land LKL at the right airport. I might even have landed on the right runway. But I know in advance that I’ll have skidded off the end of the runway, or might have damaged the gantry on the terminal building. … [Read More]

LKL is on the move (again)

You may have noticed a significant drop-off in content over the past few weeks, and particularly over the Easter weekend. That’s because I’ve finally been turning my mind to moving the site to a new webhost. I know I’m going to encounter all sorts of problems, and I’ve been doing dummy runs of the move … [Read More]

Full House at the KCC

Two nights running last week, the Korean Cultural Centre hosted events which were triumphant successes. Wednesday night saw the launch of their second major art show (a selection of work from the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea – a report will be forthcoming once I or, with luck, Beccy have had a chance … [Read More]

Patti Kim at 70

Congratulations to superstar singer Patti Kim on 49 years in the entertainment industry. Kim debuted in March 1959 before the US Eighth Army and has never looked back since. Using non-Western arithmetic, that makes her upcoming concert in Seoul at the end of April 2008 her 50th anniversary. Whatever the mathematics, I for one will … [Read More]

Lee Ufan at Lisson Gallery

A notice of an upcoming exhibition at the Lisson Gallery Lee Ufan 2 April — 10 May 2008 52-54 & 29 Bell Street Lisson Gallery is pleased to present new works by Lee Ufan in his latest solo exhibition in London. One of the most significant Asian artists of his generation, Lee’s exploration of “the … [Read More]

Cherry blossom festival in Vancouver

On the first day of Vancouver’s Cherry Blossom Festival, Jennifer Barclay reports on a recent visit to the Canadian city’s Koreatown Driving around Vancouver makes you hungry. There’s a Vietnamese restaurant next to an Indian next to a Greek next to a Korean. That’s especially on the big roads like Kingsway that lead away from … [Read More]

Easter celebrity round-up

It’s been a while since I rounded up some of the celebrity news as an excuse for posting some pictures, so here’s some recent items: First – Brits with Korean connections: Korea Beat has a translation of an interview with David Beckham, recently in Korea with LA Galaxy Kate Moss gets an advertising contract with … [Read More]

Contemporary Art showcase at KCC

A press release from the Korean Cultural Centre: Contemporary Korean Art: From the National Museum of Contemporary Art Korea 27 March-16 May Contemporary Korean Art marks the Korean Cultural Centre UK’s second exhibition since its opening in January 2008. As a platform for the promotion and development of the Republic of Korea’s unique visual and … [Read More]

AKS Korean Evening at the KCC

The Anglo-Korean Society will be presenting its regular Korean Culture evening on 10 April. If it happened last year, I’m afraid I missed it, but two years ago I went along. It was my first event as an AKS member, and I was very frustrated because there had been some very generous sponsorship of the … [Read More]

Korean artists in South Bank group shows

First, those who missed Kwon Dae-hun’s intriguing paper-and-light sculptures (above: Lost in the Forest) at I-MYU last year have a second opportunity to view his work at a Coin Street gallery. The exhibition Electric Blue at Bargehouse near the OXO tower runs from 13 – 30 March. Electric Blue is a cleverly engineered sensory and … [Read More]

A meeting with Zitten

By Anna Lindgren In January, Korea’s premier indie label, Pastel Music, released a 5CD compilation to commemorate its 5th birthday. On those five CDs there are 71 songs in total. Needless to say there is plenty of good music on those CDs – I had expected as much when I pre-ordered it. What I did … [Read More]

Beyond the Years at the KCC

The KCC’s second monthly film screening will be Im Kwon-taek’s Beyond the Years (천년학). Im’s 100th film, it’s a sequel to his breakthrough movie from the early 1990s, Sopyonje. Here’s the KCC’s press release: KOREAN CULTURAL CENTRE UK, TRAFALGAR SQUARE Thursday, March 27th 2008, 7:00 PM As part of the Korean Film Night programme, and … [Read More]