London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Contributors

Here are the people who have regularly contributed to LKL. Most of the correspondents are multi-talented and will write about anything, but where they have a particular specialism this is indicated in the arbitrary title I have given them. More contributors are always welcome, whether on a regular or ad-hoc basis. Different voices bring different perspectives and different enthusiasms. You can sign up here.

The contributors listed here are those who have at least two articles published on this site (and who have provided their biographies).

Philip Gowman

All-round Korea enthusiast, Philip will turn his hand to writing about most things. Further ramblings about how he got interested in Korea are included in the About page. When not running this site and cajoling other people to contribute as well, he does something in a bank in Canary Wharf (hence the occasional dull article on bank regulation)

Federica Ionta

Federica IontaFederica Ionta is an art lover, an aspiring artist and a learning enthusiast. Her interest in Korean culture, art and entertainment arose during her MA – initially by chance then by choice – when she wrote several essays and even her dissertation on Korea-related topics. She now works in the art sector and cultural industry in London, while she develops her expertise on Korean art. Considering her passion for writing and for art, it’s not that surprising that she’s now happily writing about Korean art.

Links: Federica’s articles | Federica’s Instagram account

Claire H Evans

Claire H EvansClaire’s first encounters with Korea were through K-pop and Korean dramas as a teenager. She developed her interest in East Asian history and politics while studying for a degree in Chinese, writing her BA dissertation on the 1988 Seoul Olympics as a turning point in Sino-Korean relations. She has since undertaken further research in Korean public diplomacy, cultural relations and soft power while studying for an MSc in International Affairs.

Links: Claire’s articles | Claire’s Twitter account

Bella Frey

Bella FreyBella is a Korean born adoptee who grew up on the Essex coast. A lack of access to any aspect of her Korean birth culture led her to seek out all things Korean in her mid twenties. A journey of rediscovery led her to rebond with the joyous flavours of Korean food, to connect with other Korean adoptees and to keep dipping her toes into the many aspects of modern and traditional Korean culture including TV dramas, films and music.

Links: Bella’s articles

Jennifer Barclay

Jennifer BarclayJennifer Barclay became interested in Korean traditional culture during a three-month tour of the country and subsequent research that led to a book. She loves live cultural festivals, interviewing people with a special connection to Korea’s history or culture, and sampling Korean food. In her day job, she’s the editorial and rights director of a book publishing company based in Sussex.

Links: Jennifer’s articles | Jennifer’s page at Author Sites

Matthew Jackson

Matthew JacksonHaving become acquainted with Korea on a random summer visit to a monastery in Pohang, Matthew has since become more involved in promoting Korea’s little-known history and culture in the UK. Recently, he appears to be unable to do this unless he is dressed in hanbok.

Links: Matthew’s articles | Korea Spirit and Culture Promotion Project

Peter Corbishley

Peter CorbishleyPeter was a man with a fascination for understanding Korean society and culture, low-brow or high, present and historical. He was a great friend of Korea, a guest member and helper of the Korean Artists Association, and Committee member of the Anglo-Korean Society. He also ran the Franciscan School in Seoul, 2001-2002. He lost his battle with cancer on 12 October 2013 and will be sadly missed.

Links: Peter’s articles

Michael Rank

Michael RankMichael Rank was a journalist specialising in Korea (particularly the mysterious North) and China and wrote many articles on North Korea for Asia Times and the now sadly defunct North Korea Zone. He was also a Chinese-English translator and has a smattering of Korean. He enjoyed attending events at the Korean Cultural Centre and watching the occasional Korean film. Michael lost his battle with cancer on 20 May 2017, and his obituary can be found in the Guardian.

Links: Michael’s articles | Michael’s personal blog

Shouvik Datta

Shouvik teaches English as a Foreign Language (ESOL), and spent a year teaching ESOL English at an elementary school in Incheon, South Korea. He often visits the Korean Cultural Centre, where he is interested in the talks on art, film and history. He is a member of the Anglo-Korean Society, as well as other societies such as the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.

Links: Shouvik’s articles

Beccy Kennedy

Beccy KennedyBeccy Kennedy’s interest in Korean art was sparked when she embarked upon an MA in the History of Art and Archaeology at SOAS, 2005; she has been exploring contemporary Korean art ever since. Her current research focus, in the form of a doctorate, examines the rise of Korean art in Britain. Beccy teaches freelance and is an Associate Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. She practises drawing and collage as a hobby, time permitting! Further Korean art contacts welcome… B.M.Kennedy [at] mmu [dot] ac [dot] uk

Links: Beccy’s articles | Beccy’s blog, Writing the Anti-thesis

Anna Lindgren

Anna LindgrenA Swede with geek tendencies, Anna’s initial online presence was her own music blog at Stuck with Free Music, after which she become an active participant at last.fm. This year she established, with orienkorean, the Korean Indie Music news site Indieful ROK. When not interviewing interesting musicians for LKL and scouring the web for news of the latest upcoming cool bands, she does something complicated in telecoms.

Links: Anna’s articles | Anna’s blog, Indieful ROK

Kay, aka Saharial

Kay HoddyKay, a music enthusiast with a love of Korean hip-hop and pop, has been following the Korean music scene since mid 2004 and doesn’t see herself quitting any time soon. When not writing for LKL she runs an international fan forum and two fansites dedicated to Shinhwa, writes fiction and squeezes in the odd k-drama or film. When not doing any of this she works in Soho in VFX post-production for film.

Links: Saharial’s articles | Saharial’s blog, Counting Pulses

Aashish Gadhvi

Aashish GadhviAashish is a Korean sports nut and passionately follows Korean football. He currently works for BBC Sport and covered Korean sports at the Beijing Olympics. He also has a wide knowledge of Korean film, having studied Film at University, and is currently studying a Masters degree in Documentary.

Links: Ash’s articles

Thanks to one-off contributors too ( Alice Bennell | Amy Lloyd | Anne-Maria Cole | Béatrice Colbrant | Bea Lesaca | Beth McKillop | Chun Hsuan Kuo | Dami Eniola | Dominick Jenkins | Elizabeth Grace | Eui-jong Han | Puzhong Hu | Sung Min Jeon | Jinwoong Lim | Jasleen Kandhari | Kevin Church | Jason Bechervaise | Linda Grove | Jinwoong Lim & Sena Lee | Linda Derham | Maashallah Tayo | Martin Cosgrove | Mark Morris | Nyomi Anderson | refresh_daemon | Ronan Thomas | Sarah Hogg | Seong-hee Jo | Sinae Hong | Susan Pares | Stephanie Seung-min Kim | Jo Wakely | Youngeun Koo | Hyun Ji Oh – here’s hoping you contribute again), and to those who haven’t got around to giving me their bios yet (Grace Kim | Jenny Wu | 앤서방 | Eunjung Shin | Darren Southcott | Robert Cottingham | Colin Bartlett | Sena Lee | Kiejo Sarsfield | Alud Davies | SK Adams | Chris Backe | Claire O’Connell | Hong Nguyen | Mark Russell | Paul O’Kane)

3 thoughts on “Contributors

  1. Hi there,

    Can’t believe I haven’t come across LKL before. I would have been so happy to have had access to something like this growing up. I am an adopted Korean who has grown up here in the UK, well to be more precise, Essex!

    I am an enthusiastic writer, having contributed pieces about my adoption experiences to various specialist publications and also having several pieces published in ‘In Search of Belonging’, a collection of writings by transracially adopted Koreans published by the BAAF.

    Basically I am wondering if there would be any opening for me to contribute pieces to LKL?

    I have lived in London for 10 years now and this site seems like the perfect place for me to get creative with my writing. I am Korean, I am a Londoner and most of all I am a foodie, who is crazy about Korean food, so food would be my subject of choice. My research would be second to none and I can honestly say I would love the opportunity and excuse to get stuck in.

    I won’t make this too long, but if you have room for a Korean looking Essex raised contributer, here I am!

    Kind regards,

    Bella

  2. Hi. It’s yerim Goo, from Seoul.
    wow. I am so happy for this nice website.
    I was just searching some information about Korean contemporary art exhibition -‘Korean Eye’ -which was held in the Saatch gallery in 2009.
    I haven’t thought about that there are many British people who are interested in Korea.
    interesting. (I thought, It was just one-sided love from Koreans to UK. :D)
    well..
    Nice to meet you nice people!
    promise you visiting here often!
    bye!

    your Yerim.

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