Yesterday’s (London) Times had a surprise in store. At the bottom of the front page was a promise of the following material in the supplement: “Dear Bel Mooney: I need sex by arrangement”. But the supplement was not the usual Times2. It was a 12-page “Focus Report” on South Korea — A cultural rebirth. It … [Read More]
Month: October 2006 (page 2)
***STOP PRESS*** King and the Clown cancelled
From the London Film Festival Website. Thanks to Jason Bechervaise for letting me know. We are very sorry to announce the cancellation of The King and the Clown and The Ugly Swans. We have arranged additional replacement screenings of Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (19 Oct), Fresh Air (19 Oct) and The Go Master (21 … [Read More]
SOAS seminar on Peace in the Korean Peninsula
Just received from Grace Koh, co-ordinator of the Centre for Korean Studies at SOAS Speaker: Professor Chung-in Moon, Prof. of Political Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, and Ambassador for International Security, ROK Title: Nukes, Missiles, and Prospects for Peace in the Korean Peninsula Date: Tuesday 24 October 06 Venue: Room B202, 2nd Floor, Brunei Gallery Building, … [Read More]
The versatile Uhm Jung-hwa (엄정화)
A rather silly item in the Chosun Ilbo (entitled Singer’s Hotpants Inflame Cyberspace) has alerted me to an actress that I hadn’t really focused on before. She’s been in films that I’ve seen and vaguely registered as quite interesting, or films that I’ve missed and am eager to see. I haven’t heard her sing, and … [Read More]
Your help requested again
Two questions from a reader from Manchester: Does anyone know of Korean (or Korean diaspora) artists living and working in Britain? Does anyone know of any Korean societies in Manchester? Please leave comments below if you can help [Read More]
The DPRK’s export economy
The (London) Times reminds us that in a country which is alleged to rely on illegitimate foreign exchange earnings, the effectiveness of sanctions against legitimate trade is not going to hurt much. The North Korean military and ruling elite have held off political collapse in the years since the end of the Cold War thanks … [Read More]
November and December at Asia House
Asia House’s programme for November and December landed on the doormat yesterday. A very enticing programme of events for followers of Korean culture, and a good reason to join, if you haven’t already. The big events coming up are the art exhibition “Through the Looking Glass” and the performances of Oh Tae-suk’s version of Romeo … [Read More]
Chuseok celebrations at Asia House
The Chuseok celebrations at Asia House on 12 October, though a couple of days late for the festival itself, were warmly received by a capacity audience. Dr Keith Howard from SOAS gave a useful introduction to the meaning of Chuseok, and also explained the genesis of one of the instruments being played that evening — … [Read More]
British birdman fights for Korean environment
A recent article in the Hankyoreh, forwarded by Tom Coyner, highlighted another Korean environmental issue which I hadn’t come across before: the destruction of an important mudflat area at Saemangeum on the Byeonsan peninsula on the West of Korea in order to build – well, they’re not quite sure what. But reclaiming 99,000 acres of … [Read More]
Kaya in top 10 unusual restaurants
In last Saturday’s Times, in The Knowledge listings supplement (7-13 October), there was a list of top 10 unusual restaurants in London, as ranked by Square Meal. Kaya, 42 Albermarle Street, is in the list. This is something of an oddity among the ranks of sleek, modish Mayfair restaurants, but it’s well worth seeking out … [Read More]
A regulatory nerd picks apart a Hankyoreh article
An interesting article (at least for that tiny population of amateur Koryologists whose day job involves bank regulatory capital ratios) in the Hankyoreh about Kookmin’s acquisition of Korea Exchange Bank. As usual though, one gets frustrated reading stories written by people who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about and which are not properly … [Read More]
Careful not to try earning a little cash on the side
The Marmot has picked up a little news item from the Korean press: a couple of foreigners were caught out earning a little but of cash by getting bit-parts in Bong Joon-ho’s The Host, and they now face deportation. One of them was only in Korea on a 90 day tourist visa. Good news for … [Read More]
DPRK Nuclear test
Readers may wonder why on a day when the news breaks that DPRK has tested a nuclear device, I choose to do a post on animation outsourcing. Well, the main thing is that this site is not meant to be a news blog, or a political blog1. When there are hundreds of professional and amateur … [Read More]
North Korean animation
Radio 4’s weekly travel programme, Excess Baggage, had a slot on North Korea on Saturday morning (7 Oct). It was an interview with Guy Delisle, a French animator. Here’s the blurb on the programme from the BBC website North Korea is one of the most secretive countries in the world, with few visitors, especially westerners. … [Read More]
Delay in opening up Korean legal market
As was inevitable, the collapse of the Doha round of free trade talks have put on hold the limited freeing-up of the Korean legal market. They have now been put in the queue behind the interminable negotiations of the bilateral FTA with the US, according to the England & Wales Law Society Gazette. Reading the … [Read More]
September site statistics
A brief round-up of site traffic, more for my own interest than anything else Popular searches As predicted, all I have to do to improve my hit rate is to have a post on Lee Sabi. She’s the top search phrase which results in people coming up with my site. 59 visits in September. However, … [Read More]