On Monday, before his London talk on Denuclearising The Korean Peninsula, Prof Francis Daehoon Lee of People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy was invited to lunch with Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, in a restaurant in his Islington constituency. He said he was impressed by Corbyn’s understanding of the situation in the Korean peninsular. Prof. Lee is … [Read More]
Category: Asides (page 2)
Kim Chi spices up BBC make-up reality TV show
One of the more fun programmes on UK terrestrial TV right now is the reality show Glow Up, in which would-be professional make-up artists compete against each other. Every week a different guest celebrity make-up artist joins the show to critique the work of the contestants. This week, Episode 5, the show was graced by … [Read More]
Colette Balmain and Paul Quinn on women in the Korean film industry
For those of you who, like me, were unable to make it up to Harrow for the talk on Women in Korean film by Colette Balmain and Paul Quinn on 4 March, Colette has posted a recording of her talk on Korean female directors on Soundcloud, while Paul has uploaded the text of his talk, … [Read More]
Seungri’s shame makes it into the FT
It’s not often that you find a K-pop story in the pink pages of the Financial Times. In fact, if you search their site for “BTS” you will simply get a list of articles about the company formerly known as British Telecom. So what brings them to report the ins and outs of Lee Seung-hyun’s, … [Read More]
Nick Bonner’s Made in North Korea arrives in Seoul
The Korea JoongAng Daily has a nice feature on Nick Bonner’s collection of North Korean everyday graphic design. His collection was on show in London’s House of Illustration last year, and arrived at the Hongik Daehangno Art Center (Hyehwa subway) in December, where it will remain until early April. It is well worth a visit. … [Read More]
Bae Chan-hyo’s new book of photography
I always find it strangely rewarding when things going on in London get featured in the Korean press. London-based photographer Bae Chan-hyo’s upcoming exhibition at Purdy Hicks, Jumping Into, gets a feature in yesterday’s Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper. Bae has been active on the London art scene at least since 2006, when he took part … [Read More]
Video: Yunchul Kim – Broken Symmetries, at FACT Liverpool
Some rather nice footage of the Yunchul Kim installation at FACT: View this post on Instagram A post shared by KCCUK Exhibition (@kccuk_exhibition) [Read More]
Korean Englishman team wins cultural ambassador award
Congratulations to the Korean Englishman team Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal for their “Korea Image Stepping Stone Bridge Award” from the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI). The award ceremony was held two days ago. Josh and Ollie run the 영국남자 Korean Englishman and JOLLY YouTube channels, which between them have over 4 million subscribers. Links: Corea Image … [Read More]
Sokeel Park awarded MBE
Congratulations to Sokeel Park for being awarded an MBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours list, published on 28 December. The official citation in the Foreign Secretary’s Diplomatic Service and Overseas List reads: Sokeel John PARK, Country Director, Liberty in North Korea. For services to UK/Korea relations … though you suspect that Mr Park is … [Read More]
John Lee and the Kingdom of Pines
Not a write-up of John Lee’s fascinating recent talk at SOAS – more a place to store a couple of images of the translations of relevant sources that he talked about so that I don’t lose them. I for one am looking forward immensely to seeing this material fully discussed in his upcoming monograph, Kingdom … [Read More]
Black String win Songlines Music Award
Congratulations to Korean fusion group Black String, whose debut album on ACT, Mask Dance, won the Songlines Music Award in the Asia and Pacific category. Black String, who played at the 2017 K-music festival, were in town for the awards ceremony in Brixton on 20 October, where they played music from the album. [Read More]
National Pension Service buys Goldman European head office
Korea’s National Pension Service is buying the Goldman Sachs European head office building for £1.165 billion (around $1.5bn), four years after it sold its investment in HSBC’s headquarters building in Canary Wharf. That sale netted them around $0.5bn in gains. “We are excited to re-enter into the London market with this high quality asset which … [Read More]
ZICO – King of the Zungle Tour comes to London
ZICO returns to London in September. Tickets go on sale 22 August. ZICO – King of the Zungle Tour Friday 28 September 2018 – 6.30pm O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire | Shepherd’s Bush Green | London W12 8TT Buy tickets [Read More]
Lee Bul in Conversation and Performance by Zadie Xa
Lee Bul discusses her work with Hayward Gallery Director Ralph Rugoff, followed by Flooded with ICE / Hell Fire Can’t Scorch Me, a performance by Korean-Canadian visual artist Zadie Xa that brings together live storytellers, dancers and musicians. Co-produced by writer Taylor Le Melle, with performers Jihye Kim, Jane Chan and Nam Yoon Kim. Purcell … [Read More]
Min Kym’s stolen Strad – the Classic FM podcast
“This is the story of violinist Min Kym and what happened when her instrument was taken from her. It’s a tale of giddy love, devastating loss and the healing power of music.” Listen to the podcast here, with a summary on the Classic FM website here. [Read More]
Haegee Lee (sop) with Dominic Sedgwick (bar) at St Clement Danes
Monday 14 May 2018, 1pm at St Clement Danes, Strand, London, WC2R 1DH Soprano: Haegee Lee Baritone: Dominic Sedgwick Piano: David Gowland Director: Noa Naamat The regular free lunchtime recitals, at St Clement Danes in the Strand, feature the rising stars of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme. [Read More]