City of Ash and Red is a novel for 2020, even though it was originally published in 2010. Inspired no doubt in part by the SARS outbreak of 2002-3, Pyun Hye-young imagines a world where a virus has the potential to shut down whole countries, in which visitors are tested for infection on arrival at […]
Review: Na Man’gap – the Diary of 1636
Na Man’gap’s Diary of 1636, as George Kallander explains in his informative introduction, is the longest known private account of the second Manchu invasion of Korea. Na (1592 – 1642) was a senior scholar-official who was with the King and court inside Namhansanseong – he was in charge of military rations – throughout the siege […]
November events 2020
As we head back into lock-down, there’s only a couple of days left in November to visit the exhibitions. And we commiserate with the KCCUK and LEAFF organisers, who have worked so hard to find venues for screenings and live music only to find that the pandemic has other ideas. Books and Talks Thank heavens […]
Movie review: Peninsula. Four years after Train to Busan, the zombies rule the streets…
We’re four years on from the zombie pandemic that ravaged the Korea that we saw in Train to Busan (2016). The port city proved to be no refuge from the rampaging menace, and the zombies took over the country. Some lucky few of the non-infected escaped by sea, but no country wanted to receive the […]
K-music 2020: now online only
It was a brave attempt: despite the pandemic, K-music 2020 was originally planned to open and close with live gigs. Now neither gig will now go ahead as planned. Flying over ADG7, a 9-member band with its associated staff, as Covid conditions worsened proved too much of a challenge. So the opening concert was the […]
Buckwheat tops the translation league table
As I’ve been logging the various publications during the construction of LKL’s K-lit hub, I’ve been keeping an eye on those stories which appear most often in English translation, whether in an anthology or a standalone publication. Charles Montgomery has always said that When the Buckwheat Blooms is the most published story, and I’ve yet […]
Announcing LKL’s new K-Lit Hub
I haven’t been posting much on LKL recently. That’s not because nothing’s been going on. On the contrary, there’s been plenty of exhibitions to review, online film festivals to attend, and some real-world foodie events to enjoy. In fact, I have a longer than ever writing backlog, which I shall do my best to backfill. So […]
K-music 2020: the official press release
Despite the pandemic, Serious and the KCCUK have arranged a great line-up for K-music this year. Bookended by live performances to open and close the festival, there’s a range of exciting online performances which involve new collaborations between favourite K-music artists from the past as well as some new names. We’ve already posted about the […]
October events 2020
How did it get to be October so quickly? Once Chuseok is over, prepare yourselves for K-music and the LKFF, both of which have a mix of live and online events. There’s plenty else on too. Arts and exhibitions Han Collection celebrates London Crafts Week with Brilliant Hues – a selection of ceramics from Icheon, […]
LKFF 2020 announces its line-up
This is now the 15th edition of the festival organised by KCCUK. As is to be expected, this year is somewhat different, with many of the screenings taking place online. There’s plenty to enjoy in the programme. We’re particularly looking forward to Mark Morris’s selection of Mudang films. Here’s the official press release; we’ll be […]
A round-up of current and recent exhibitions
Since the lifting of most of lockdown restrictions put in place at the height of the pandemic, Korean art-related events have recently resumed in the UK. The KCCUK programme, once the Rendered Reality exhibition by Joonhong Min and Shinuk Suh closed, moved on to Seoul Unfolded, a display of architectural projects and works featuring the […]
Suhyung Lee at Crispins: an oasis in a desert
Six months after the start of the national lockdown, when we’d been starved of food, companionship and conviviality for half of the year, the one-night pop-up event at Crispins in Spitalfields, featuring Korean chef Suhyung Lee, was like an oasis in the desert. Yes, there was the prospect of some interesting Korean-inspired dishes – we’d […]
Gallery: Joonhong Min and Sunyoung Hwang in Urban Reckoning
Urban Reckoning, co-curated by Korean artist Joonhong Min, and also including work by Sunyoung Hwang, is at Koppel Project Hive on Holborn Viaduct, taking advantage of the gradual opening up of lockdown that has been in place since March. Min has been having a busy year, despite the pandemic, with work installed at the Korean […]
Peninsula to get UK theatrical release
Well, the BFI London Film Festival wasn’t interested in any Korean films, but all credit to Frightfest for securing the zombie blockbuster Peninsula to open their festival on 22 October. Here’s the press release from the FrightFest website; UPDATE: unfortunately, since the festival has moved online-only as the pandemic situation has worsened, Peninsula will no […]
Review: Pyun Hye-young – The Law of Lines
Life was much deeper than he could ever imagine. It was impossible to tell just how far you could sink1 Two apparent suicides in different parts of the country kick-start two separate story-lines which turn out to be interlinked. Se-oh is the daughter of one of the deceased – a man who had fallen into […]
An introduction to be-oom tea shop and garden
와우! be-oom is a new addition to London’s tea scene, serving hand-picked Korean teas sourced from small farms in the Boseong and Hadong regions. They also sell tea ceramics and run Korean tea tasting and tea blending events (see Facebook page for dates). Their tea house in the vibrant Exmouth Market offers a peaceful ‘garden’ […]
Korean films at the 2020 BFI London Film Festival (this won’t take long)
The programme for the 64th BFI London Film Festival was announced earlier this week. As one might expect, the format is somewhat different this year. The schedule boasts “over 50 virtual premieres and a selection of highly anticipated new feature film previews … with work from more than 40 countries”. However, despite the diversity of […]