London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Some Mot tracks

Discover why Mot’s first album “Non-linear” was Anna Lindgren’s soundtrack of choice in 2004. Here’s the opening track, Cold Blood. And from the same album, Love song. From the second album, “Strange Season“, comes the track Close Links: A meeting with MOT by Anna Lindgren [Read More]

The $54 million pair of pants

He’s been christened “Pants man”, he’s had vilification heaped on him, and may even lose his job, but still he battles on. He’s Washington judge Roy Pearson who’s been suing Custom Cleaners, owned by Korean immigrants Ki, Jin and Soo Chung, for rather a large sum of money for allegedly losing his trousers. He clearly … [Read More]

KEB blow by blow

Reports of HSBC’s renewed interest in KEB have given me the impetus to resurrect a post which has been work-in-progress for a while. I’ve been periodically trying to google back in time to reconstruct the whole KEB saga, and yesterday’s FT coverage gave a very useful framework on which to build. So here is another … [Read More]

The Grand Culture Project

At the SOAS / AKS conference on 26 June, the talk by Kim Hyeon, Associate Professor of Cultural Informatics at the Academy of Korean Studies, had the title “the Korean Wave, Cultural Content and Cultural Informatics”. “What on earth is Cultural Informatics?” I hear you ask. You would not be alone. But read on. The … [Read More]

Welcome to LKL V3

I’ve finally taken the plunge and moved over to a two-sidebar theme – the way Scott Wallick, its designer, intended it to be used. A number of drivers behind the move: A typically male thing of always wanting the latest version of everything – and Scott has based all the coding for this theme on … [Read More]

Special Fringe Korea Day, 21 August

A press release from Kore@fringe KAMS is also delighted to announce: Fringe Korea Day 21 August, Assembly Hall, 11am-1pm In association with the Fringe Office and Korean Cultural Centre, UK, this event will present live showcases from the six productions that make up Korea@Fringe, followed by film footage of other Korean shows that are part … [Read More]

Book Review: Digging to America

My slightly random reading patterns in respect of Korea-related books sometimes turns up a gem, sometimes introduces me to an author I wouldn’t otherwise have read, and sometimes proves a disappointment. This book falls into the second category. It came up on my list of Amazon recommendations based on my past purchasing behaviour, and I … [Read More]

Indian Summer? Try Indian boshintang

And in the second of today’s frivolous links, here’s a story from Associated Press. An Indian politician has allegedly proposed solving India’s stray dog problem by shipping the creatures to Korea. One cynical wag has suggested that there would be howls of protectionist protest… Links: Indian Politician: Ship Stray Dogs to Korea, Hindustan Times via … [Read More]

International Toilet Rescue

Revealing my schoolboy sense of humour, I couldn’t resist posting this link to an article about the Korea-based World Toilet Association “racing to rescue Cambodia” Toilets are no longer a space for excretion only; they are becoming the central place in our daily lives where cleanness, relaxation, and aesthetics are important. Read on at expat-advisory.com. … [Read More]

Upcoming books on Korean film

Just as the Korean film scene seems to be losing some of its buzz, books about it are coming thick and fast. 2004 saw the Wallflower Press book (though it seems only last year that it came out); 2005 saw the Julian Stringer / Shin Chi-yun book; and last year came the book on Kim … [Read More]

Brits need not apply

Or Aussies or Kiwis for that matter. A full-page ad in the current issue of Seoul Magazine seeks to satisfy Korea’s seemingly insatiable appetite for English language teachers. The ad starts: Thousands of College Graduates are going to South Korea to teach English to pay off their student loans and to gain international experience. The … [Read More]

Cute videos featuring brotherly love

I couldn’t resist posting these videos. Read the Party Pooper’s commentary on them here, with links to more SuJu vids. First, Super Junior – stranded on the road to Busan, only 21 dollars between them, and having to share a room for the night. Sweet. And now TVXQ / DBSK Read Rowan Pease’s commentary on … [Read More]