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Category Archives: 2007 year-end posts

Round-ups of the year’s events, looking forward to the year ahead, and other posts relevant to the holiday period

Korean film - a review of 2007

30-Jan-08

Korean film - a review of 2007

Jason Bechervaise, founder of koreanfilm.org.uk, gives his perspective on the ups and downs of the Korean film industry in 2007 By all accounts 2007 was a year that has been difficult one for the Korean film industry where it seems that the golden years of the Korean film industry has passed. Rising costs have meant it is more challenging to make a profit. A recent study by KOFIC (Korean Film Council) estimated that while in 2006 the average film earned 77% of its budget, in 2007 this dropped significantly to 39%. To make things look little better, only 10 films broke even with 2 million admissions or more. However, although 2007 saw a drop in theatrical admissions -- the first ...
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The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007: the top 10

26-Jan-08
Here's the top ten. And probably not all that work-safe. #10: The second appearance of LKL's favourite ex-playboy model, Lee Sabi (806 views): #9: The Chejudo Love Land theme park (884): #8: Sassy girl and last vampire Jeon Ji-hyun displaying her smooth thighs as a rock chick (969): #7: Pop diva, CF queen and all-round girl-in-the-celebrity-blogosphere Lee Hyori (1,174): #6: Lost, Ardor and Swiri star Kim Yun-jin, from the Arena spread (1,312): #5: Star of soap and film, Ha Ji-won. "Horrible" © The Times (1,537): #4: The second appearance of BoA, this time in her Nike campaign (2,636): #3: The priceless photo of North Korean military marching (6,461): #2: Jeon Ji-hyun again, in her Laneige campaign (13,609): #1: LKL's man of the year 2006, Time Magazine's most influential entertainer 2006, ...
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The LKL P&L

25-Jan-08
As one or two readers will know, in my work like I started, like Daeguowl and Jenny, as an accountant. So here is an entirely non-IFRS-compliant statement of LKL's activities for 2007. 1 Revenues As many readers may appreciate, the object of this website is not to make money. And because I prefer to have control over the look of the site I don't like having javascript ads all over the place. This means that my initial blog was ad-free, and when I joined Google Adsense in the second half of 2006, the advertising panels I introduced were extremely low-profile (as were, inevitably, the resulting revenues). Moving to version 3 of my blog templates ...
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Suju confirmed as LKL’s top drawer

22-Jan-08
I've been trawling the 2007 website statistics for interesting trends. Search terms, popular pages and the like. I wish I had something earth-shattering to report, but the trends in terms of readers' interests stay pretty consistent. The thing I notice on a daily basis is that the same old (and I mean old) posts keep appearing on the top 10 list: anything to do with Super Junior (above) ((Incidentally, can anyone tell me why there are only 10 of them in that photo?)), Lee Hyori, Lee Eon-jeong and the rest will always be represented. But other, more value-added, posts often squeeze in as well -- for example the listing of Korean food stores in the UK. And every now and then ...
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The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007 - part 2

21-Jan-08
Here's #11-20, in reverse order #20: Tottenham Hotspur's Lee Young-pyo: #19: 1970s Seoul: #18: The first appearance of top K-pop star BoA, in her campaign for Olympus: #17: Shinhan Bank's Manchester United Credit Card: #16: The cover image from Kyung-Hyun Kim's heavyweight book on Korean Cinema -- a still from Peppermint Candy: #15: Robot Taekwon V, recently remastered: #14: The wonderful Lee Young-ae: #13: Moon Geun-young as an Easter bunny: #12: 2006 Miss Korea Honey Lee modelling some jeans: #11: Timeless beauty Choi Ji-woo: What? Nearly into the top 10 and still no picture of Super Junior? The top 10 will be coming soon. Links: Numbers 1-10 Numbers 21-30 Related posts:A seriously cool thing about Seoul Having made a couple of recent posts about how expensive...The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007 Part 1: #21-30 Inspired ...
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The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007

19-Jan-08
Part 1: #21-30 Inspired by the cheap TV programmes which seem to have taken over the evening schedules in the UK, simply recycling clips from other TV programmes (The 100 most embarrassing celebrity moments, and the like), here's a chance to sample again the pictures most viewed on this site during 2007, according to AWstats. In reverse order. #30: Hobak from LKL's favourite rock-chick band Bloody Cookie: #29: The first appearance on this list of Lee Eon-jeong, LKL's favourite ex-playboy model: #28: Fly to the Sky Transition album cover. (This one would have been higher on the list, but I stopped the particular individual hotlinking to it.): #27: Stage 1 in a magic straight perm process, of consistent interest to LKL readers: #26: Kim Yeon-ah, who had ...
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New Year’s resolutions

02-Jan-08
1 I will free myself from the daily post Having managed to maintain one post per day for the past 15 months or so, even when on holiday, I've now proved to myself I can do it. To be honest, it's never been much of a struggle to find something to write about, and it's always a help when other contributors provide material. But henceforth if I'm too busy or on holiday I won't feel too bad if I miss a few days. 2 I will move webhosts. Again. Bluehost are fantastic webhosts, but if you need to do anything complicated with your site you need to be elsewhere. Top priority for my site in terms of ...
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LKL quiz of the year: the answers

01-Jan-08
Question 1: Corporate crooks and corruption Match the alleged quote with the appropriate chaebol The conglomorate had run a vast network that bribed government officials, prosecutors, tax collectors, journalists and scholars I don't want to take a gamble on causing a crisis in the country's economy The sentence of one year and six months is a bit too heavy A. Hanwha B. Hyundai C. Samsung Answers: 1: C; 2: B; 3: A This has been such a good year for this type of thing that it was a struggle to select the appropriate quotes. The Hanwha quote, of course, relates to the get-out-of-jail trick by convicted thug, loving father and budding pyjama-model Kim Seung-youn, Hanwha's Chairman. 'The sentence of one year and six months is a bit too ...
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The London Korean Links Awards 2007

31-Dec-07
Following the success of last year's equivalent post here are the winners and losers of the second annual LKL Awards. Again, a personal and unscientific selection. Man of the Year Last year there was a clear winner: a man who had been in the press all year with little but positive coverage. This year started promisingly for him, and I was afraid he was going to run away with the award again this year. But then everything went pear-shaped and he virtually vanished from the pages of the newspapers and the blogosphere. I'm talking of course of Jung Ji Hoon: Rain. This year, Saharial has nominated Lee Minwoo, a highly deserving candidate. I have a nomination as well: Park Jin-young, aka JYP, the ...
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Review of the London Korean year

30-Dec-07
Having had the big programme of events of Think Korea 2006, I had thought that 2007 was going to be disappointing. But as it turned out the range of events in 2007 was if anything greater. Performing arts On the stage we have had a re-run of the martial arts comedy Jump and the same company's follow-up b-boy slapstick production Breakout (aka Picnic). B-boys seemed to be everywhere, Last For One performing Spin Odyssey in London after a nationwide tour and a masterclass at London's Roundhouse. The B-boy bandwagon gathered momentum in Edinburgh with three B-boy related shows (Spin Odyssey, Breakout and The Ballerina who loved B-boyz), while back in London they sparkled at the New Malden Festival and battled in the ...
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Thanks

28-Dec-07
Thanks to all those who have in different ways contributed to LKL this year. In no particular order: The guest contributors, who provide coverage that I am unqualified to provide, thus adding so much value. Jennifer for her lively accounts of some of the special London events. We look forward to your book next year, Jennifer Anna for her tireless quest to find new indie bands to interview for this site. Jenny for letting me plunder her site for some of her CD reviews Saharial for her nomination for artiste of the year; and of course a big thanks to Saharial, Anna and Jenny for their CD of the Year recommendations Beccy for her visual arts coverage Ash for his sports coverage and the account of his ...
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Another year of underperformance

26-Dec-07
Our abies koreana has probably grown about half an inch this year. It has thus failed to meet its very reasonable targets which we set a year ago. Yet this is the season of goodwill, and the kind-hearted Louise has granted a reprieve. For some reason, she has a soft spot for this straggly piece of Korea in our back garden. But she's going to move it - to make room for a dogwood - and we'll see if it does any better in our front garden. I somehow doubt it. Tune in this time next year. Related posts:A forlorn Abies Koreana This is the time of year when we think of...Some New Year drumming First, a video posted to YouTube ...
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Season’s greetings to all our readers

25-Dec-07
Changdeokgung Palace in winter. From Sueann's NWPR Blog Regent Street lights, from the London Moleskinecity blog And an interesting seasonal post from Robert Neff: Christmas comes to Old Korea, OhMyNews, 24 December 2007 Related posts:A Happy Christmas to all our readers Some seasonal snaps from London and Seoul First, Trafalgar Square...Restoring Seoul’s faded past Visit OhMyNews for an interesting article from Robert Neff. Great...Holiday snaps from Korea In the past few days I’ve loaded into Flickr... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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LKL quiz of the year

24-Dec-07
As a bit of seasonal fun, here's a little quiz to test your knowledge of the events of the past year. Corporate crooks and corruption An easy one to warm up with. Match the alleged quote with the appropriate chaebol The conglomorate had run a vast network that bribed government officials, prosecutors, tax collectors, journalists and scholars I don't want to take a gamble on causing a crisis in the country's economy The sentence of one year and six months is a bit too heavy A. Hanwha B. Hyundai C. Samsung [poll=5] [poll=4] [poll=6] [poll=7] [poll=8] Answers next week. Related posts:Top banking watchdog in town. You too can quiz him Dr Jun Kwang Woo, the Chairman of the Korean Financial...Coming soon: LKL albums of the year Fed up with mediocre K-pop acts ...
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Two more 2007 album choices

20-Dec-07
As an appendix to the recommendations by the three critics who know Korean pop, rock and indie music much better than me, here are two further choices. I can't help but sympathise with Jenny when she comments that 2007 was not an outstanding year. My own purchases of Korean music are somewhat random. When I'm guided by people I trust, more often than not I like what I hear. When buying what seems topical or in the news, I'm less than successful. As an example of the rogues' gallery of turkeys I've mistakenly bought this year: Ivy's Second, of which the most complimentary thing I can think of to say is that there are some pretty pictures; Dynamic Duo's Third; and Lexy's ...
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A nomination for artiste of the year

18-Dec-07

A nomination for artiste of the year

In more than a footnote to her Critic's Choice article, Saharial reviews the achievements of Lee Minwoo this year My personal nomination for artiste of the year goes to Lee Minwoo a.k.a. 'M'. In the last 12 months he has not only released a live album and a third solo effort, and held successful tours in both Korea and Japan, but also started his own company, produced and written songs for other artistes and started his own line of clothing merchandise designed by himself. The year hasn't been an easy one with his 3rd solo album being leaked onto the net a week before its release date. Four months after its release, there was a completely bizarre and late-timed decision from the ...
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LKL critics’ choice: Saharial

15-Dec-07

LKL critics’ choice: Saharial

Saharial, a moderator in the soompi forums and a self-confessed pop junkie, presents her selection of 2007 releases - and has some words of comfort for a disappointing release which didn't make her list First up is the King of Ballads -- Sung Si Kyung. This sixteen track 5th Album called The Ballads opens with the number On The Street written by singer-songwriter Yoon Jong Shin, a long-time collaborator with Sung Si Kyung, and it's a partnership that works very well. The song was the first single released from the album and proved very popular with fans and in the charts. Who do you love?, the follow-up single, also by Yoon Jong Shin, showcased Si Kyung's ability to sing in English, ...
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LKL Critics’ Choice: Anna Lindgren

10-Dec-07

LKL Critics’ Choice: Anna Lindgren

To me, 2006 was a pretty weak year, music-wise, and it wasn't really till the very end of November that it began to shape up. That's when - after a two month delay - adultchild finally released their debut album, B TL B TL. Filled with soft slow paced mellow music, cosy guitar play and lovely female vocals, adultchild had with the assistance of Soda (aka Oldfish) refined the sound from their demos and came off as full worthy label mates of Pastel Music's premier mellow act, Bluedawn. Their formula with a careful beginning that gradually builds up towards a stronger end works great on me. Hopefully the attention adultchild have gotten from their participation on Tearliner's Coffee Prince OST ...
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The Best Album of 2007: YOU decide

06-Dec-07
Yesterday saw the first contribution to the LKL Critic's Choice series of articles. Some readers may have their own ideas as to what's the hottest album this year. So here's a sample of this year's releases, geared more to the Pop end of the market rather than the indie end. The albums have been selected by a combination of reader recommendations and emails, some input from a moderator at a well-known k-pop forum, plus one or two additions of my own. I have my own ideas as to which album is going to win, based on my readership statistics. So what I'm really interested in is: who comes second. So, IS Super Junior really the best band of 2007? YOU decide. [poll=3] Related ...
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LKL Critics’ Choice 2007: Jenny Wu

05-Dec-07

LKL Critics’ Choice 2007: Jenny Wu

2007 was not an outstanding year for Korean music to be brutally honest. I found myself liking this song here and that song there, but only a few albums as a whole have commanded my attention this past year. The following are my top 5 picks for best Korean albums of 2007. My criteria for inclusion on this top 5 list are as follows: listenability, consistency, and variety. Listenability = I enjoy listening to the album. Consistency = the album contains very few, if any filler tracks. Finally, variety = the first song does not sound exactly like the second song, the second song does not sound like the third song, and so forth. All of ...
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Seasonal gift ideas

03-Dec-07

Seasonal gift ideas

As there are only 3 weeks left, here are some thoughts for solving some of your gift dilemmas: Book ideas James Church's second novel in the Inspector O series: Hidden Moon. The first one was a corker. The second one: a bank robbery in Pyongyang, in broad daylight, by men in silk stockings? A lively scenario for starters. And maybe the Inspector will get his cup of tea this time. Buy Hidden Moon at amazon.com / amazon.co.uk For film fans, try one of KOFIC's Korean Film Directors series. Lee Chang Dong, Kim Ki Young and Im Kwon Taek are available at Yes Asia here (I've reviewed them here). The more recent one on Park Chan Wook is available from Seoul Selection here. For Korean tiny ...
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Coming soon: LKL albums of the year

25-Nov-07
Fed up with mediocre K-pop acts being showered with awards? December is the month when LKL critics, and hopefully readers as well, will be awarding prestigious accolades to Korean musicians based on their artistic merit rather than the skills of their choreographers, publicity managers and plastic surgeons. LKL Critics' Choice A couple of months ago LKL asked some trusted correspondents who know their music to consider the albums released over the past twelve months (to make things reasonably manageable, we specified the twelve months to the end of September 2007) and to select their finest recommendations. Over the coming few weeks we'll be publishing those recommendations. Expect to find a wide range of musicians celebrated, both well-known and less familiar. If you ...
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