Firstly, Chatham House Korea Discussion Group: 13.15-14.30 (Lunch 12.45-13.15 – £10 charge) Keeping the Flame of Human Rights in the Korean Peninsula: The Role of an International Human Rights NGO, Amnesty International in the Two Koreas Speaker: Rajiv Narayan Chair: Jim Hoare Further details on the Chatham House website. Secondly, SOAS Centre for Korean Studies … [Read More]
Month: March 2007 (page 2)
A meeting with itta
By Anna Lindgren While I’ve come across some more or less experimental Korean music over the years, nothing had prepared me for itta (있다). I was swept away by the 11th track on her first official album, “11”, and asked her to do an interview with me. Fortunately, she accepted. At 4 years of age, … [Read More]
Through the Looking Glass closes soon
It’s your last chance to catch the Through the Looking Glass exhibition at Asia House. Quite by chance, and unfortunately making no reference to the show, the Times over the weekend featured one of the artists in a weekly column highlighting what’s hot on the web arts-wise. Sweet Dreams Crayon drawings by small children are … [Read More]
BlogWatch pages now back up
I need to work on the formatting, but at least the content is there now. Please remind me if I seem to have forgotten to subscribe to a key feed. Thanks. [Read More]
Times critic not impressed by Ha Ji-won
The Duelist was released in cinemas on Friday. In a way, I wish I’d gone to see it in preference to Kim So-yong’s In Between Days as I was in the mood for something a bit unchallenging. I’ve yet to find anyone to say it’s a great film, but lots of people enjoy the visuals. … [Read More]
Hotlinks disabled
As I warned a week ago, I’ve now blocked hotlinks – or at least I think I have. I’ll be checking some of your sites to see whether it’s worked or not. If any of you think you’re a charity case and deserve to have some of my bandwidth, please email me. Update 15 March. … [Read More]
Kim So-yong: In Between Days
If you’re looking for some light entertainment to take your mind off things after a hard day at the office, So Yong Kim’s In Between Days is probably not for you. Like much non mainstream cinema, it demands effort from you. Plot-wise, there’s not much to report. It’s a teenage Korean girl growing up in … [Read More]
Park Jung-hyun #5: On & On
Lena Park (박정현) delivers a top-notch R&B album with no real weak spots. Some of the numbers could come straight from a Lee Soo-young album – big orchestral sound backing a great tune – while others are more internationally inspired. There are some almost celtic influences – shades of Enya (at the slower end) and … [Read More]
LKL has landed…
… sort of. It was a bumpy landing. On the basis of 5 minute’s playing: I’ve lost all the BlogWatch feeds (easy to fix). Spam Karma doesn’t like you commenting. Don’t know what’s going on there. I’ve also had my email inbox deluged with 300 spam comments to moderate. Probably a related challenge. So I’ve … [Read More]
Martin Limón: The Door to Bitterness
Soho Press, New York, 2005 Martin Limón’s fourth book in the series featuring George Sueño and Ernie Bascom continues some familiar themes. Our drink-sodden heroes, officers in the CID of the US 8th Army in Seoul in the 1970s, as usual demonstrate their physical strength in tackling villains and their iron constitutions as their bodies … [Read More]
LKL is on the move…
This site will not be updated for the next few days. The removal men are in, they’re putting everything in packing cases, wrapping everything up nicely, and hopefully unpacking things and putting them in the right rooms at the other end. Until you see a post which says “LKL has Landed” this site will be … [Read More]
Kayagum Concerto at St Johns
Byung-yun Yu conducts the Thames Philharmonia at St John’s Smith Square, 7pm, on Sunday 11 March. Mi-sun Gwon is the soloist in Hee-jo Kim’s Concerto for Sanjo Kayagum and Orchestra. Marialena Fernandes is soloist in Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto, and the programme is completed by Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony Tickets £12, £10 and £8 from the … [Read More]
Delispice #3: Sad but True
(Released: 2000) Delispice are considered to be one of the key Korean rock groups. Formed in 1995 with an advert for people who like U2 and REM, those beginnings give a fair indication of the musical direction the band was to take. This third album is meant to be one of their darkest. Puzzlingly, the … [Read More]
New and upcoming books
Tom Coyner and Jang Song-hyon have just brought out Mastering Business in Korea – A Practical Guide. The ad in Seoul Magazine reads as follows: In an engaging and easy-to-read format, two experienced business consultants explain the ins and outs of contemporary Korean business culture, etiquette, work rules, and marketing to the Korean consumer. Pick … [Read More]
February statistics
As I suspected, I was peaking too soon in January. Three consecutive days of 1,000+ visits earlier in the month have now tailed off to a more sustainable 800-900 per day. What drives the visits I don’t know, but I suspect that there may be an element of rubber-necking at internet roadkill: another three consecutive … [Read More]
Have dinner with not one but two ambassadors
A rare opportunity for people interested in things Korean: have dinner with not one but two ambassadors. H.E. Warwick Morris, British ambassador to Seoul, will be addressing the Anglo-Korean Society and friends on 22 March, giving his perspectives on UK – ROK relations and trade links. With him will be H.E. Dr Cho Yoon-je, the … [Read More]