One of the more interesting-looking academic titles published last year (in November) was this one. You’ll have to wait until August this year for the more affordable paperback version, but to whet your appetite in the meanwhile there’s a useful session later this month to introduce the global audience to the book’s individual chapters. Each … [Read More]
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Scottish CKS Spring Distinguished Lecture Series
The Scottish Centre for Korean Studies has announced the programme for its Spring Term Distinguished Lecture Series. Publicity still seems to be Facebook only, and you need to visit their Facebook page periodically to get zoom registration links and lecture abstracts. Here’s what we know so far: 11:00 am – 12:30 pm Wednesday 26 Jan … [Read More]
Seminar: Cultural Industries and Cultural Policy in Asia
We’re looking forward to what I think is the first London-based seminar of the year, for what I hope will be a counterblast to some of the lazy coverage in the mainstream media seeking to explain the success of Squid Game and other icons of Korean popular culture. Cultural Industries and Cultural Policy in Asia … [Read More]
Unsuk Chin’s second violin concerto gets its broadcast premiere
Thanks to Colin Bartlett for alerting me to the fact that the premiere of Unsuk Chin’s second violin concerto will be broadcast in a performance by its dedicatee Leonidas Kavakos on 18 January. LKL had eagerly bought tickets for its scheduled live premiere, which was going to be 7 January last year at the Barbican. … [Read More]
Moon Jae-in’s 2022 New Year speech
Here is the unofficial translation of President Moon’s 2021 New Year’s Address, sourced from the Cheongwadae website: 2022 New Year’s Address by President Moon Jae-in 3 January 2022 Fellow Koreans, We stand again on the starting line of a New Year. At the center of a tumultuous period in world history, we ring in the … [Read More]
January events 2022
As far as I can see, it’s going to be a pretty dry January. Maybe some events will pop up and surprise us: perhaps, for example, SOAS or Edinburgh will come up with some seminars that haven’t been announced yet. Other than that, it looks like there’s going to be plenty of time to catch … [Read More]
A review of the Korean cultural year 2021
Each year when I come to write this review, I wonder whether Korean culture in the West has reached its high water mark. And every year so far I’ve come to the same conclusion. Korean music and film, TV and food continue to win admirers, and we can expect to see it continue to thrive … [Read More]
Report on 4th Plenary Meeting of 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea
The end-of-year report from the Party plenary meeting, sourced from Rodong Sinmun and knca.kp. NKNews has alternative takes on the report: “North Korea vows military buildup due to ‘destabilizing’ situation on peninsula” and also “Plenum’s agriculture focus suggests dire food shortages in North Korea” Let Us Strive for Our Great State’s Prosperity and Development and … [Read More]
A look back at our 2021 reading diary
Looking back at this year, it’s been one of the best for new translations of Korean literature that I can remember. There have been at least ten new fiction titles, and unusually for me I managed to get through all the titles I was intending to. All of them are recommendable in their different ways. … [Read More]
Season’s Greetings to all our readers
Another year of intermittent lockdown and social distancing measures, and once again The Drawing Hand has risen to the challenge of creating a suitable seasonal image for LKL’s readers. It’s difficult to see how things are going to change much over the coming months. But we have our enthusiasms and friendships to sustain us. So, … [Read More]
A look back at some of the movies in the 2021 London Korean Film Festival
One month after the close of LKFF we’re finally getting around to penning some thoughts on the movies we saw there. We’ve already commented on Im Sang-soo’s latest, which left us with very warm feelings about the festival as a whole. What about the rest of the programme? Let’s get this out of the way … [Read More]
2022 IKSU Annual International Conference
Register for UCLan’s early January conference by the end of this year. Korean Politics and International Relations at Crossroads: Past, Present and the Future Friday 7 January -Saturday 8 January 2022 University of Central Lancashire | Flyde Road | Preston PR1 2HE || Online via Teams Register via EventBrite by 31 December This conference is … [Read More]
SpiritWalker gets limited release in London
For those who (like me) didn’t get to see this at LEAFF this year, SpiritWalker is screening at Odeon Kingston, Wimbledon and Haymarket from tomorrow for a few days. SpiritWalker (유체이탈자) Dir: Yoon Jae-keun (2020, 112 mins) Cast: Yoon Kye-sang, Park Yong-woo, Lim Ji-yeon, Park Ji-hwan Odeon Cinemas | www.odeon.co.uk From the makers of The … [Read More]
Review: Kim Bo-young – On the Origin of Species and other stories
After the mild disappointment that was the audiobook of Kim Bo-young’s I’m Waiting for You (let down by the somewhat unwieldy story The Prophet of Corruption) it was with a slight sense of wariness that I embarked upon the Kaya collection of her short stories On the Origin of Species. I was also cautious because … [Read More]
December events 2021
A quiet month to end the year, in which the highlight has got to be a performance by some talking Korean rice cookers just outside Coventry Exhibitions Bongsu Park’s In Dreams we Gather continues at Gallery Rosenfeld all month The KCC’s group show Nothing is – everything just has been or will be also continues … [Read More]
Cuckoo by Jaha Koo, at Warwick Arts Centre
“A journey through the last 20 years of Korean history told by a bunch of talkative rice cookers” has got to be worth a trip from London. Cuckoo by Jaha Koo Wednesday 8 December & Thursday 9 December 2021 7:45pm Studio | Warwick Arts Centre | University of Warwick | Coventry CV4 7AL | Book … [Read More]