Book review: Blaine Harden – King of Spies

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by Philip Gowman on 12 November, 2018

in 1945-1960 | Book Reviews | Books on DPRK | History Books

Blaine Harden: King of Spies – The dark reign of America’s spymaster in Korea Mantle, 2018, 272 pp The character of the maverick cop, or even maverick spy, delivering outstanding results through unorthodox means and despite a disregard for hierarchy, is a familiar one in crime and spy fiction. Blaine Harden, who worked with Shin […]

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November events 2018

by Philip Gowman 1 November 2018
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Probably the event of the year is the appearance of Ahn Sook-sun in London to perform Heungboga. Not to be missed. It’s also the busiest time of the year for Korean film, and if you haven’t seen enough of BTS yet you might be able to see them in a cinema near you. In fact […]

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The Top 5 Gothic KPOP Music Videos

by Colette Balmain 31 October 2018
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Dr Colette Balmain applies her specialism in Gothic Cinema to the world of KPOP – perfect for the Halloween season… ‘Gothic forces its readers, viewers, and listeners to identify the ghosts that haunt them…’ (Isabella van Elferan, 2012, Gothic Music, p. 15). 1. SHINee “Married to the Music” (2015) “Married to the Music” doesn’t sound […]

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The BTS Love Yourself o2 concert – a fresh perspective

by Gargi Sengupta 30 October 2018
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LKL’s young contributor Gargi Sengupta, who reported from the Sheffield Korea Day earlier this year, provides her second report – from the biggest KPOP event in London ever! On the 10th of October I went with my father to watch the BTS concert at the London o2. Since I have been a HUGE fan of […]

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4482 2019: OPEN CALL for artists

by Philip Gowman 29 October 2018
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Please find below the Call for Artists for Sasapari 4482 2019: 4482 2019: OPEN CALL for artists Exhibition: The Other side of the Moon 4482 is a multi-functional platform which exists to promote, integrate and celebrate new Korean Contemporary Art within the United Kingdom. The name was derived when it first began in 2007, the […]

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Affective becomings and musical transformations: BTS take London

by Colette Balmain 23 October 2018
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Dr Colette Balmain, or maybe a ghost writer, reports from the biggest KPOP event in the UK this year: Taking the Plunge This is the first concert review that I have written although I have been to many concerts, some of which I have good memories of and others which I wish I could press […]

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A visit to Foyles during Korean Culture Month

by Philip Gowman 22 October 2018
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Foyles’s Korean Culture Month runs from 13 October into the middle of November in partnership with the KCC. As part of the promotion, Korean books are displayed prominently by the ground floor information desk and on Level 4, where all their foreign language books are. You are able to sign up for a free exploratory […]

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Mini review round-up: the 2018 LKFF Teaser screenings

by Philip Gowman 21 October 2018
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Sometimes I just don’t have the time to marshal any thoughts about a movie after seeing it. Daily life takes over any before I know it I’ve watched another movie and the memory of the previous one is dimming fast. But as I’ve been on holiday for a few days away from the daily grind, […]

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Brief review: Comrade Kim goes Flying

by Philip Gowman 20 October 2018
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The London East Asia Film Festival gives us the second chance this year to see Comrade Kim Goes Flying in the company of two of its directors, Nicholas Bonner and Anja Daelemans. The screening in March was in fact the UK premiere, which came almost six years after its international premiere in Toronto in early September […]

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The film festivals approach – as does the annual battle for our diaries

by Philip Gowman 17 October 2018
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Last year I had a little rant about the hectic and competing schedules of the two overlapping film festivals of interest to the Korean film audience. The London Korean Film Festival has had a long history of packing so many films into their programme that it’s impossible to go to everything you want to see. […]

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BTS’s busy couple of weeks

by Philip Gowman 16 October 2018
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It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Korea’s biggest band: A speech for UNICEF at the United Nations on 24 September. The speech, by the band’s leader Kim Namjun (aka RM), ended as follows: Like most people, I’ve made many and plenty mistakes in my life. I have many faults and I have many […]

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A quiet look at the LKFF’s 2018 programme

by Philip Gowman 9 October 2018
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The London Korean Film Festival returns for its 13th edition next month with a slightly quieter tone than in some previous years. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s as if the organisers are saying that, as the festival enters its teenage years, the audience is becoming grown-up enough not to require a diet of […]

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The end of the journey: desire, recognition and redemption in BTS’s “IDOL”

by Colette Balmain 1 October 2018
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Dr Colette Balmain examines the culmination of the BTS Love Yourself series: “IDOL” is the lead single from BTS’s final album in the “Love Yourself” series. The series comprises one extended storyworld music video, Love Yourself 起 Wonder; one mini album, Love Yourself 承 Her; one full length album, Love Yourself 轉 Tear; and one […]

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October events 2018

by Philip Gowman 1 October 2018
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Visual arts and exhibitions Suh Do-ho’s Bridging Home, London is near Liverpool Street, and Lee Ufan’s Relatum – Stage outside the Serpentine Gallery, at least until the end of the year. The Liverpool Biennial (till 28 Oct) and Asia Triennial Manchester (5 – 21 Oct) have plenty of Korean interest Yunchul Kim’s Dawns, Mine, Crystal […]

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Bongsu Park’s Dream Auction

by Philip Gowman 30 September 2018
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Last year, Bongsu Park’s Internal Library project culminated in a fascinating and thought-provoking sequence of events in which members of the public were invited to share some of their most private thoughts – dreams, memories, secrets – which were then woven into a set of public performance at Notting Hill’s Print Room. Out of that […]

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Text of the Pyongyang Joint Declaration

by Philip Gowman 19 September 2018
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The following is the unofficial translation of the communique issued from the Pyongyang summit. President Moon’s statement following the summit can be found on the Blue House website. At the bottom of this post is a link to download a translation of the military accord that was signed at the same time. Pyongyang Joint Declaration […]

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Another World We Are Making: a look at LKFF’s focus on Kim Dong-won

by Philip Gowman 17 September 2018
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Almost inexplicably, when compared with previous documentary screenings, the KCC’s mini festival of Korean documentaries, spread over two weekends, was over-subscribed, with latecomers for one session needing to sit on the floor. The decision to break out the documentary strand from the main London Korean Film Festival has probably been vindicated, and the strategy of […]

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