London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

An Event to Meet and Honour Korean War Veterans

The British Korean Society, in collaboration with the National Army Museum, will hold an event on Thursday 5 May to show our appreciation of and to honour British veterans of the Korean War – and to hear something of their experiences. The doors will open at 18.00 for a 18.30 start at the National Army … [Read More]

Samuel Hawley’s Imjin War comes to YouTube

One of my most enjoyable reads so far this year has been Samuel Hawley’s Imjin War, originally published in 2005. At 664 pages long it might seem a bit intimidating, but in my view it could probably be twice as long and still be as gripping. But for those who like their history in nibble-sized … [Read More]

Former UK Home Secretary to unveil statue commemorating Vietnamese victims

In an article on Politics Home, former UK Home Secretary Jack Straw writes about South Korea’s need to investigate rape and other atrocities inflicted by South Korean soldiers upon women during the Vietnam War. Despite Korea’s history of Japanese military sexual slavery, successive South Korean governments have refused to investigate their own military’s crimes against … [Read More]

SOAS conference: Colonialism and its Reverberations

A good half-day conference coming at the beginning of February. Check the event’s Facebook page or the SOAS website for updates. Colonialism and its Reverberations: ‘Comfort Women’ and Historical Revisionism in Korea and Japan Professor Yonson Ahn (University of Frankfurt), Professor Vladimir Tikhonov (University of Oslo), Professor Chong Yeonghwan (Meiji Gakuin University) 3 February 2018, … [Read More]

Korea – The Antifragile Kingdom

Editor’s note: every now and then Matthew Jackson submits a cracking article from out of nowhere. Here’s one such article which, if I may paraphrase, wonders whether maybe han is healthy. I hope it’s not too long before the next one! The author and philosopher Nicholas Nassim Taleb (of ‘Black Swan’ fame) developed a concept … [Read More]

The world’s first newspaper?

“Why did no one inform me that this was being made?” said King Seonjo (r. 1567–1608) on 28 November 1577. Concerned “that information about the court could potentially be circulated to wider circles in the elite” the king exiled the people responsible for the news-sheet. Jieun Choi of Korea Exposé has the fascinating story. Kim … [Read More]

New Paju footbridge honours Glorious Glosters

I am grateful to the Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK for alerting me to the recent opening of a new bridge – the “Gloucester Heroes Bridge” – commemorating the role of British forces (and it was not just the Glosters, though they are the regiment who feature most prominently in the accounts) … [Read More]

Statements on the Comfort Women issue

Statements published jointly today by the Japanese and South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs aim to bring closure to the issue of wartime sexual slavery. The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan also published a statement on the inter-governmental announcements, which says that the issue is by no means … [Read More]

Beer-bottle VC donates medal to Korea

Two articles this week report how Bill Speakman VC, who was on a veterans’ trip to Korea, has decided to donate his Victoria Cross to South Korea. He also wants his ashes to be scattered in the DMZ when he dies. Sadly, the medal being donated is a replica: “he sold the original to a … [Read More]