London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

LKL’s list of ten Squid Game superlatives

Well, I guess everyone who’s going to watch it has watched it already, but nevertheless I’ve tried to avoid any major spoilers in the below. Here’s the list of things that struck me most about the hit series. Most enjoyable reveal Runner up was the identity of the multi-gazillionaire who set up the game, But the … [Read More]

British artist at sea with Hanjin Shipping

Winning a residency programme is often a milestone in a young artist’s career. When Royal College of Art MA sculpture student Rebecca Moss won a residency programme from Vancouver’s Access Gallery, that sounded like a huge opportunity. The residency, entitled 23 Days at Sea, involves sailing in a container ship from Vancouver to Shanghai – … [Read More]

Minister Thae moves south

Here are a few links relating to Minister Thae Yong-ho’s defection. Minister Thae was the cultural attache at the DPRK embassy in London, and according to reports effectively the deputy head of mission. At LKL, we came across him during the second art exhibition held at the embassy back in 2014. He was probably there … [Read More]

A selection of clippings from Rio 2016

1. The ROK team’s opening parade: who’s the foreign-looking chap who can’t tuck his shirt in or do his top button up? 2. The first selfie to go viral — gymnast Lee Eun-Ju (ROK) with Hong Un Jong (DPRK) (photo: Reuters): 3. The first world record of the games – in archery: “South Korean world … [Read More]

Commentary on The Interview

LKL has been an Interview-free zone, mainly for the reason that we always thought that the film was not a very good idea. But for the sake of pulling together in one place the links to the most interesting commentary on the film, the two best quotes, in the two most interesting articles, come from … [Read More]

The Sewol story in links

A random collection of links relating to the sinking of the Sewol on 16 April, updated as necessary. Arirang News compares the capsising of the Sewol with that of its sister ship the Ariake. Confucian guilt spreads in Korea – Death of innocents sparks condemnations of wicked adult world: an early use of the C-word … [Read More]

Jong Song Thaek, blow by blow

A list of articles on the subject of the Jang Song Thaek purge: Kim Jong Un’s uncle ‘very likely’ removed from power – Washington Post, 3 December 2013 N. Korea announces purge of Jang Song Thaek for “anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional acts” – Free Korea, 8 December 2013 Report on Enlarged Meeting of Political Bureau of … [Read More]

A London 2012 Korean Olympic round-up

Here are some of the highlights and headlines from the past two weeks or so of Korean athletes at the London 2012 Olympics: 25 July North Korea’s Olympic women’s football team walked off the pitch for an hour at their opening London 2012 match tonight after organisers mistakenly introduced the players using South Korea’s flag. … [Read More]

“Hostages in the Hermit Kingdom”

I can’t remember seeing any positive coverage of the two journalists (Laura Ling and Euna Lee) who managed to get themselves captured by the North Koreans on March 17, before getting released following a special visit by Bill Clinton. Here’s a random selection of some of the articles. Bradley K Martin (Global Post, 18 June … [Read More]

Mad Cows: President Lee’s apology

The following is the full text of President Lee Myung-bak’s statement in a live TV broadcast at Cheong Wa Dae on 22 May to address the resumption of U.S. beef imports and ratification of the Korea-U.S. FTA. Courtesy of the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOIS). For those who haven’t been following the Mad Cow … [Read More]