London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

LKL Critics’ Choice 2007: Saharial

Saharial, a moderator in the soompi forums and a self-confessed pop junkie, presents her selection of 2007 releases – and has some words of comfort for a disappointing release which didn’t make her list First up is the King of Ballads — Sung Si Kyung. This sixteen track 5th Album called The Ballads opens with … [Read More]

Racial tensions in Queens

Leonard Chang: The Fruit ‘n Food Black Heron Press, 1996 Leonard Chang’s first novel is proof that giving away key elements of the plot in advance need not ruin the enjoyment of a work of fiction. The book starts at the end, with the hero in hospital, blinded and incapacitated. You are told how the … [Read More]

That Wonder Girls song – and an antidote

This one will be quick. Once again, Matt over at Popular Gusts has written the post that everyone wishes they’d written themselves. So, here’s Tell Me, the song and dance that everyone’s talking about, performed by the teenage girl band Wonder Girls – the creation of Park Jin-young (JYP), the man who invented Rain: Traffic … [Read More]

Grow your own Korean vegetables

Louise has been browsing the magazines for possible cures – or replacements – for our sickly abies koreana. Browsing the Royal Horticultural Society’s periodical the other day she found an interesting feature on Korean vegetables. A local Korean who grows Korean vegetables in his New Malden allotment was featured. For those who want to grow … [Read More]

Book review: Kim Seong-dong — Mandala

Kim Sung-dong: Mandala Translated by Ahn Jung-hyo Dongsu Munhaksa, 1990 A novel about the search for truth, and about the nature of corruption in religion. When Pobun takes his priestly vows, he undertakes not to kill, steal, have sex, lie, drink, wear ornaments, sing or dance, sleep in a comfortable bed, possess gold, or eat … [Read More]

LKL Critics’ Choice 2007: Anna Lindgren

To me, 2006 was a pretty weak year, music-wise, and it wasn’t really till the very end of November that it began to shape up. That’s when – after a two month delay – adultchild finally released their debut album, B TL B TL. Filled with soft slow paced mellow music, cosy guitar play and … [Read More]

Spectrum: 2007 Korean Contemporary Arts show

Last year saw the first of what might be turning into an annual event: a showing of young Korean artists working in London, at the Jerwood Space in Southwark, behind Tate Modern. LKL found out about last year’s show, Still Dynamics, very much at the last minute, but we still provided some coverage here. This … [Read More]

Study Korean and Japanese Art at SOAS

A great opportunity to find out more about Korean art: study towards a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art. Study Korean and Japanese Art at SOAS — April — July 2008 The former British Museum postgraduate diploma course in Asian Art will now be offered at SOAS from 2008. Korea and Japan are seen in their … [Read More]

The documentary “Welcome to North Korea”

If you have an hour to spare, this documentary by Peter Tetteroo and Raymond Feddema is worth a look despite being a couple of years old. Thanks to Robert Koehler over at Seoul Magazine for the tip. The documentary can be seen at https://archive.org/details/WelcometoNorthKorea. Welcome to North Korea Rating: NR Running Time: 60 Minutes Directed … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #7: Koen De Ceuster

Dr Koen De Ceuster – Docent, Leiden University The Korean delegation at the 1907 Peace Conference in The Hague Abstract: Barred from attending the Hague Peace Conference, the Korean delegation at first sight miserably failed in its task of representing Korea at the Conference. Reading this episode as a continuation of Kojong’s ongoing attempts to … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #6: Owen Miller

Dr Owen Miller – Research Fellow, Centre for Korean Studies, SOAS The crisis of Seoul’s traditional commercial system, 1876-1895 Abstract: The guild system of late Chosŏn Seoul and the guild-government trade underpinned the commerce of the capital city and represented a significant slice of national commerce as a whole. This premodern commercial system rested on … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #5: James Grayson

Professor James Grayson – Professor of Modern Korean Studies and Director of Centre for Korean Studies, Sheffield University Ch’udo yebae: a Protestant substitute for Confucian ancestral rituals Abstract: An early resolution of a conflict of values is necessary if a missionary religion is to find acceptance in the culture of the receiving society. In East … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #4: James B. Lewis

Dr James B. Lewis – University Lecturer in Korean History, Oxford University Korean expansion and decline from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century: a view suggested by Adam Smith Abstract: The first price runs for Korean rice help us develop a Smithian physiocratic model to explain the low, stable prices of the eighteenth century and … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #3: Peter Kornicki

Professor Peter Kornicki – Professor of East Asian Studies, University of Cambridge Publishing and translation in the Chosŏn period Abstract: Korea is famous in the global history of printing not only for the concrete evidence of printing in the eighth century found at the Bulguksa but also for the development and use of movable type … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #2: Anders Karlsson

Dr Anders Karlsson – Lecturer in Korean, SOAS Royal benevolence and disaster relief in Choson Korea No abstract is available Notes (the usual caveats about my amateur efforts apply) AK started with a brief account of the severe floods in Pyongan province in 1859. The records indicate that the central government sent an “admonishing magistrate” … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #1: Martina Deuchler

Professor Martina Deuchler – Professor of Korean Emerita & Professorial Research Associate, SOAS The social in society: some reflections on the meaning of descent groups in Korean history Abstract: The presentation will focus on the history of what I call the Korean “descent group” (ssijok) and trace its evolution from early Korea (Silla and Koryŏ, … [Read More]