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Category Archives: Dae Jang Geum

The redemptive power of Lee Young-ae

13-Jan-08
As we all know, Jewel in the Palace is a hit in many countries. It's watched all around the world. Including in Indian jails. A convict in India has sent a letter of gratitude to a top Korean network for airing the historical drama "Jewel in the Palace," or "Daejanggeum" in Korean. Narendra Kumar Sharma, an inmate at Ambala Prison in Haryana, northern India, sent the letter to Munhwa Broadcasting Company, or MBC, for producing the drama. Sharma is serving time for multiple attempted suicides, a crime under Indian law, and has been under close watch at the prison for the past three years. "I have developed a fondness for 'Ghar Ka Chirag' and its lead character 'Jangum' (Jang-geum), who has been ...
Also filed in Lee Young-ae, Strange but true | | Comments (0) »

Some Lee Young-ae videos

22-Dec-07
I've been feeling guilty about not meeting the needs of all those people who come to this site looking for articles about the lovely Lee Young-ae and not finding very much. Having done a few searches on YouTube I'm amazed at the dedication of fans who create tributes to their favourite star. Here's a small selection of what's available. First, a seasonal one: a slightly odd combination of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and some footage from Dae Jang Geum: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXz7MgQGjpk[/youtube] Next, a much more conventional tribute, featuring the Spice Girls and Viva Forever: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfnZy3N-cYA[/youtube] And one for James Blunt fans:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKckMh9275c[/youtube] A slightly odder choice of music, a hyperactive little number which accompanies the Japanese anime Gundam Seed Destiny... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiQwNxn7sTc[/youtube] ...while this one has a more sedate soundtrack: Gary Barlow's ...
Also filed in Lee Young-ae, VoDs | | Comments (0) »

Chuseok at the BM — part sprint, part marathon

26-Sep-07
It is a commonplace observation that Korea is caught between two larger neighbours. Similarly, in marketing terms, the Korean events at the British Museum last Saturday were dwarfed by the blitzkrieg advertising for the Chinese "First Emperor" and the Japanese modern design exhibitions, both also at the British Museum at the same time. But although the façade of the museum was plastered with giant posters of terracotta warriors, all eyes were on the Korean festivities in the museum forecourt. Most people could tell that all the jollifications were Korean. "Korean Harvest Festival" was hastily written in front of the changseung (totem poles) which formed the centrepiece of the first performance in the forecourt. And more importantly, the large group of helpers ...
Also filed in British Museum, Chuseok 2007, Dulsori, Im Kwon-taek, Lee Young-ae, Pictures, Shin Mee-kyung | | Comments (0) »

Bang goes Chuseok

05-Sep-07
Two events to celebrate Chuseok, Korea's harvest festival. Firstly, the Anglo-Korean Society will be having a buffet dinner at Young Bean Kwan on the Barbican highwalks in the City on 20 September. Guest of honour will be Ambassador Cho. There will be a short pre-dinner talk on Korean customs and food, and guests will be entertained by young Korean musicians on traditional instruments. Pre-booking required with the AKS. Download a flier for the Chuseok dinner here. AKS membership enquiries to Sylvia Park (sylviaparkairtravel at hotmail dot co dot uk) Second, the British Museum will be celebrating Chuseok on 22 September. Many of the entertainments from the Thames Festival the previous weekend will be appearing in the forecourt of the BM, and also in some ...
Also filed in Anglo-Korean Society, British Museum, Chuseok 2007, Dulsori, Events news, Korean traditional music, Permanent displays, Shin Mee-kyung | | Comments (0) »

The Grand Culture Project

22-Aug-07
At the SOAS / AKS conference on 26 June, the talk by Kim Hyeon, Associate Professor of Cultural Informatics at the Academy of Korean Studies, had the title "the Korean Wave, Cultural Content and Cultural Informatics". "What on earth is Cultural Informatics?" I hear you ask. You would not be alone. But read on. The premise of the thesis runs roughly thus: Some of the biggest hallyu hits have been Joseon dynasty historical dramas. Take Dae Jang Geum and the King and the Clown. These have been great export earners for Korea, Inc. Wouldn't it be great if you could bottle the formula? But a brief look at the genesis of the King and the Clown highlights a problem in the lifecycle of a ...
Also filed in Academia, Business, Conference reports, Film, Hallyu, Lee Jun-ik, SOAS, TV drama | | Comments (0) »

Dae Jang Geum musical needs translator

08-Aug-07
From this week's Seoul Selection newsletter Seoul Selection is looking for translators to translate the libretto of the musical "Dae Jang Geum" produced by PMC Production. The translation --- approximately 30 pages (A4) --- needs to be done rather quickly, with the deadline for the translation being Aug 18. You should have plenty of time next week if you'd like to handle the entire translation on your own. If time is an issue, we'd be more than happy to put more than one translator on the project. If you're interested, send a resume and a translation sample (click here for the sample text --- translate only the text in bold) to publisher at seoulselection dot com no later than Thursday ...
Also filed in Classifieds, Performance arts, TV drama | | Comments (0) »

Your help requested. And, some people have all the luck

28-Jun-07
A reader at ukfan's DJG Comic Relief forum is doing a research project on Dae Jang Geum. He's a PhD researcher at Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change at Leeds Metropolitan University. As part of this he needs your help to perfect a cultural survey. The survey can be found here. Please email it to him at the address shown on the word document. He needs it in the next few days. Once he has reviewed your answers to make sure the questionnaire is working OK he gets to go on a field trip: to the DJG theme park in Yangjoo City, Gyeonggi Province, where he will interview a scientifically selected sample of tourists. If only I had had so much ...
Also filed in Academia, Ask an expert, Hallyu, TV drama, Travel | | Comments (1) »

Jumong a bright spot in media industry gloom

13-Apr-07
The Chosun recently reported a gloomy picture of the earnings of the Korean film industry. As Jon Pais speculated over at Twitch in November last year, Even if production costs stabilized, as the number of films increases, decreased profitability is inevitable. But production costs are soaring and don't show any signs of slowing down. In the first half of 2006, blockbusters aside, 40 films couldn't even break even. This situation is only likely to worsen in 2007. The Chosun confirms that picture. In an environment where profitability is uncertain, film investors want bankable stars, which of course boosts production costs further. As is well known in the case of Beyond the Years, even an internationally acclaimed director such as Im Kwon-taek doesn't ...
Also filed in Business, Film, Jumong, TV drama | | Comments (5) »

Dae Jang Geum survey

03-Apr-07
A request for assistance from a PhD researcher. Hello, I'm a Ph.D. student at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California. I am interested in studying popular cultural phenomena in or related to East Asia. I'm currently working on a research project about viewer's perceptions and opinions of Korean TV dramas. I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me out by completing the web survey linked below. The study takes about 5-15 minutes depending on your answers. Please be noted that this research project has been approved by University Institutional Review Board. You need to be at least 18 years of age to participate. Your participation will be completely anonymous and voluntary. Once you start the survey online, you will ...
Also filed in Ask an expert, TV drama | | Comments (0) »

Visit the Dae Jang Geum campaign sites

29-Dec-06
Pay a visit to ukfan's DJG comic relief discussion board. There's a sample of his work below. And if you haven't done so already, sign Alice's petition to get DJG shown on the BBC, and visit her blog.
Also filed in TV drama | | Comments (3) »

Korea’s cute and funky cultural exports

22-Dec-06
Chatham House Korea Discussion Group China's 'Korea Wave': National Branding, Piracy, Idols and Fans Speaker: Dr Rowan Pease, 6 December 2006, 1:15pm If ever you get the chance to hear Rowan Pease talk on her chosen subject of the hallyu in China, drop everything and go to it. Even if you've heard some of her material before, there will always be something fresh and new. And even if you've heard all of it before, it's still entertaining to hear her quotes from teenage Chinese chat-room frequenters. Her opening remarks at her Chatham House talk earlier this month had the assembled company of academics, diplomats and city slickers completely embarrassed at their disconnection from popular culture. When did any of us last go to a ...
Also filed in Academia, Chatham House, Conference reports, Hallyu, Super Junior, VoDs | Tagged | Comments (6) »

Dae Jang Geum campaign gathers momentum …

30-Jul-06
...but still needs your support. A couple of months ago I put up a notice on my old site encouraging you to visit Alice Bennell's blog and join her campaign to get the BBC to buy Dae Jang Geum -- Jewel in the Palace -- for showing on British TV. Since then Alice has been working hard, and her blog has been going from strength to strength, covering not only DJG but Korean culture in London more widely -- she had some great shots of the Korean day at the V&A at the end of May. She's also been creating DJG trailers -- visit her site to see some of them: they've proved very popular. And she's also started up a discussion ...
Also filed in TV drama | | Comments (2) »