We all groan when we come across yet another pun involving the Republic of Korea’s capital city. Maybe I should get out more, but yesterday was the first time I had come across the Mart » 마트 » Mate pun. So, welcome Seoul Mate: not a London Korean dating agency but the latest Korean food … [Read More]
Front Page
Five from the archive
Americans in Pyongyang
With typically bad timing my travel arrangements didn’t work out. I caught the Star-Spangled Banner and the first movement of the New World Symphony in the car on the way to the airport, but missed the North Korean anthem which opened the broadcast, and of course all the encores — including the tearful Arirang (by … [Read More]
Petal essay contest Salon des Refusés 1
Earlier this year the Korean Literature Translation Institute sponsored an essay competition based on Ch’oe Yun’s There a Petal Silently Falls. Now that the finalists have been announced, Michael Rank is the first to offer his submission for publication on the pages of LKL. The Kwangju (Gwangju) massacre of 1980 has been called the most … [Read More]
Album review: Lee Soo Young #8 — Set It Down
(Manine Media, 2007) There’s something reassuring about a Lee Soo Young album. You try to explore different genres of music, some of which may be exciting and original, and others may be frankly rather tiresome. And then you come to Lee Soo Young and it’s like returning home. It’s a bit like comfort food. It … [Read More]
Book review: Hawon Jung – Flowers of Fire
Hawon Jung’s book is a thorough and very readable look at South Korea’s #MeToo movement and the problems of misogyny and gender discrimination that gave rise to it. Highly recommended. [Read More]
Recent Posts
December events
After the hectic activity of the last two months, be grateful for a slightly quieter December, enabling you to get some Christmas shopping done. The highlight of the month is the continuation of the BFI’s Echoes in Time season, with some cracking films from the turn of the millennium, as well as some restored classics. … [Read More]
London Korean Film Festival Announces 2024 Programme
Here’s the official press release for this year’s London Korean Film Festival, released today. Some good things here! Korean Cultural Centre UK announces London Korean Film Festival 2024 Programme Opening Gala Film: Park Beom-su’s VICTORY Closing Gala Film: E.oni’s LOVE IN THE BIG CITY Special Screening: Choi Dong-hoon’s ALIENOID: RETURN TO THE FUTURE London, 1 … [Read More]
Theatre round-up: four recent Korean stage productions
This year in London we have been fortunate so far to have enjoyed four Korean stage productions: two imports with a run of several weeks each, and two shoestring-budget local productions with a handful of performances. Which would we go to see again? Do the plucky locals win out over the imports? [Read More]
K-Music Festival 2024: an introduction
The programme for the 2024 K-Music Festival is quite possibly the best yet. For LKL, the real gems are the opening and closing events. We hear that the National Changgeuk Company‘s Lear, which opens the festival, is every bit as good as their Trojan Women, which we raved about; and for the closing event pretty … [Read More]
Korean Wave or Korean Tsunami? The Next-Gen Late Night at the Korean Cultural Centre
On Friday 31st May, the Korean Cultural Centre UK hosted its inaugural networking event for young professionals and opinion leaders titled ‘Next Gen Late Night.’ The evening was aimed at bringing people together to discuss not only the explosion of global interest in Korean culture (known as Hallyu) but crucially, as the target audience of … [Read More]
Oh Myung-hee’s tribute to female spirituality and springtime
If you find yourself in the Sloane Square area over the Easter period, do pop in to the Garrison Chapel in the new Chelsea Barracks development. It’s a lovely, airy space used primarily for exhibitions, and currently there’s a group show, launched on International Women’s Day, featuring work by eighteen female artists. One of those … [Read More]
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Recent Event updates
Squid Game Season 2: preview screening
Three years after the huge global success of Squid Game we are delighted to unveil the first episode of the second series following a screening of Series 1’s gripping finale ‘One Lucky Day’. Player 456 remains determined to find the people behind the game and put an end to their vicious sport. Using this fortune … [Read More]
Yong Min Cho dance performance: The Art of Painting
Enjoy a Poetry and Dance Performance in the Georgian Eating Room to accompany Antoni Malinowski’s work in Pigments and Photons with Martin Crimp, Kristin Winters and Yong Min Cho The Art of Painting event begins with a sardonic text by playwright Martin Crimp originally written for the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna where Vermeer’s The Art of Painting hangs. At … [Read More]
Dragons, by Eun-Me Ahn: 8-city UK tour
Dance Consortium presents the multi-media dance spectacular Dragons, from iconic South Korean dance artist Eun-Me Ahn, “…bursting with vivid strangeness and hope” (The Stage). An eight-venue tour opens at Mayflower Theatre, Southampton on 24 & 25 February In Asia, dragons represent resilience, joy and optimism. They are the inspiration for this latest work by avant-garde … [Read More]
The Genesis Exhibition: Do Ho Suh at Tate Modern
Enter the captivating world of leading contemporary artist Do Ho Suh. Korean-born, London-based artist Do Ho Suh invites visitors to explore his large-scale installations, sculptures, videos and drawings in this major survey exhibition. Is home a place, a feeling, or an idea? Suh asks timely questions about the enigma of home, identity and how we … [Read More]
K-Women: Celebrating Korean Female Artists
Korean art group 4482 (SASAPARI) showcases inspirational artworks by 17 Korean female artists in Kingston, home of the largest Korean community in Europe. In collaboration with Kingston Museum, Korean art group 4482 (SASAPARI) presents an exhibition showcasing inspirational artworks by 17 Korean women artists in Kingston, home of the largest Korean community in Europe. This … [Read More]
Stray Kids – dominATE world tour in London
Following the record-breaking success of Stray Kids’ 2024 shows in Asia & Australia, the acclaimed, gold certified, global K-Pop phenomenon will take to the stage at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday 18th July, 2025 as one of 20 new performances on their highly successful dominATE World Tour. The Stray Kids dominATE World Tour marks their … [Read More]
The above events list includes recent updates to events which might have been uploaded some time ago (eg an update confirming venue or ticket link). A chronological listing of all event notices published, most recent first, can be found here. A list of all upcoming events can be found here.
Recent Book updates
Counterattacks at Thirty [forthcoming]
From the bestselling author of ALMOND, The Devil Wears Prada meets The Office in this witty, humane, and ultimately transformative story of a group of young workers who rebel against the status quo. Jihye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary. In her administrative job at the Academy, she silently tolerates office politics … [Read More]
Late Industrialization, Tradition, and Social Change in South Korea
Examines how primary social ties fueled economic growth South Korea’s rapid industrialization occurred with the rise of powerful chaebǒl (family-owned business conglomerates) that controlled vast swaths of the nation’s economy. Leader Park Chung Hee’s sense of backwardness and urgency led him to rely on familial, school, and regional ties to expedite the economic transformation. Late … [Read More]
Korean Pop Culture beyond Asia: Race and Reception
Showcases the dynamism of cross-cultural engagement with Korean media Korean media has exploded in popularity across the globe in the past decade: BTS and other K-pop groups have packed stadiums, Parasite garnered record-breaking critical success, The Masked Singer and Single’s Inferno became viral TV hits, and multiday KCON fan events have highlighted not only media but Korean food, cosmetics, and fashion. … [Read More]
Lapwing: The Life Of Bishop Richard Rutt
Richard Rutt led an extraordinary life. He was Bishop of Daejeon in South Korea from 1968 – 1974 and first moved to South Korea to work as a priest a year after the end of the Korean War, in 1954. After he and his wife, Joan, returned to the UK in 1974, he served as … [Read More]
Forever Girls: Necro-cinematics and South Korean Girlhood [forthcoming]
Forever Girls explores girlhood manifest in contemporary South Korean cinema within the conflicting socio-political forces that shaped the nation: coloniality, postcolonial and postwar traumas, modernity, and democracy. Author Jinhee Choi reorients the direction of current scholarship on contemporary South Korean cinema from patriarchy, masculinity and violence, to instead consider girls as a social imaginary. Drawing on … [Read More]
The Trunk
Meet Noh Inji: thirty years old, five wedding rings so far, and she’s never once been in love. When Inji takes a job at Wedding & Life, the popular matchmaking service, she never imagines her role will be with NM, their secretive marriage division that rents out ‘field spouses’ for a fixed period to their … [Read More]
The above booklist includes recent updates to books which might have been uploaded some time ago (eg an update to reflect a release of cover art, or a new review). A chronological listing of all books uploaded, most recent first, can be found here.