Chris Boot, 2007 The new photo book on Pyongyang can be appreciated on a number of levels. Firstly, there’s the literal level: it’s a collection of well-taken photos, with captions provided by the North Korean Tourist Board. But like it or not, whenever you see anything in which the North Koreans have had a hand, … [Read More]
Year: 2007 (page 18)
Oh Jung-hee: The Bird
Telegram Books, 2007 Originally published as 새, 2003 Translated by Jenny Wang Medina Another of those enigmatic, slightly depressing modern Korean novels which causes you to have sympathy with the large number of Koreans who are turning to Japanese novels for their entertainment. Set during the mid 90s economic slump, the story chronicles the lives … [Read More]
Park Hyun Bin #1: Gondre Mandre
Possibly my most disappointing speculative purchase ever, this is the second stop in my journey through the younger generation of artists who appear to be involved with the Trot revival. As with my first encounter, I can’t make the connection between what I’m hearing and what I’m told Trot is all about. At least with … [Read More]
May events 2007
May is a quiet month for Korean events, so far as I am aware. The London Korean Film Festival 2007 and associated cultural events, which following the precedent of previous years would be towards the end of May, will actually be happening in June this year according to my latest intelligence. The provisional date is … [Read More]
Super Junior T: Rokkuko
Every now and then in my somewhat random purchases of Korean pop music I hit upon a gem. By the law of averages, every now and then I have to come across a dud. This is one of them. I’ve started investigating Trot, and perversely thought I’d start with its latest reincarnation and work backwards … [Read More]
Lee Young-il and Choe Young-chol: The History of Korean Cinema
Jimdoondang Publishing Co, Seoul, 1988 I’m sure this book has a readership, but I’m not sure what it is. It is so badly written that it encourages skim-reading and thus is not particularly attractive for the general reader, while the index is so poor that its use as an academic reference tool is limited. As … [Read More]
Conference Report: Modern Encounters and Mutual Perceptions
Thanks to Grace Koh for organising the joint CKS / BAKS half day at SOAS on Wednesday. An interesting sharing of papers, with UK-based academics presenting papers on the British encounters with Korea, and Seoul based academics providing the opposite view. We started with early views of Western civilization as viewed from Korea through their … [Read More]
A fantastic source for Korean rock & indie music
If you’re just starting with Korean rock, indie, alternative and punk music, you could do a lot worse than visit Orienkorean’s YouTube channel (linked below). He’s got wide-ranging tastes and (for how long he’s going to keep this up, I don’t know) he’s trying to upload one music video per day. Orienkorean was kind enough … [Read More]
Full text of agreement at inter-Korean economic talks
From the KOIS The following is the full text of a 10-point agreement issued by South and North Korea at the end of their five-day economic cooperation meeting in Pyongyang on Sunday. South and North Korea held the 13th meeting of the Inter-Korean Economic Cooperation Promotion Committee in Pyongyang on April 18-22, 2007. During the … [Read More]
Free documentary screening: Koryo Saram
Date: Wednesday, 2 May 2007 Time: 17.00-19.00 Title: Koryo Saram – The Unreliable People (one hour documentary film)* Director: Y. David Chung Director of Photography and Editor: Matt Dibble Executive Producer: Meredith Woo Historical Consultant: German Kim (Kazakh State University) Venue: Khalili Lecture Theatre, Main Building, SOAS *The screening will be followed by a Q&A … [Read More]
Roe Kyung-jo: From Canvas to Ceramic
Gallerie Besson, 15 Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond Street, London W1S 4SP 25 April – 24 May 2007 Professor Roe Kyung-jo (노경조) made a rare appearance in London yesterday for the opening of his exhibition at Galerie Besson. Roe’s work was on display in London last year as part of the Traditional Yet Contemporary exhibition … [Read More]
JPMorgan Partners the next Lone Star?
That’s the question posed by the Chosun Ilbo last week. The investment partnership formed to acquire a 73% stake of Mando, the Korean car parts maker, was ordered by the National Tax Service to pay $16 million in back taxes on dividends. JPMorgan Partners had a two-thirds share in this partnership. While the investment in … [Read More]
The Korean breakdancing scene
The talent on display at the Peacock at the moment is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Korean B-boy scene. Korean breakdancing is getting almost to be mainstream – to the extent that corporate suits hire B-boys to provide some glitz and glamour to a new product launch; and they … [Read More]
Yegam Inc: BreakOut
Those who have been to see Jump will be familiar with the formula. Some very clever slapstick, a small amount of enforced audience participation, and some excellent acrobatics. Whereas in Jump the acrobatics involved martial arts, in Break Out it involved some pretty impressive breakdancing. With the Taekwondo in Jump, the amazing displays flowed naturally … [Read More]
Minis and breakdancing
Seen in Insadong in February this year: On show at the Peacock right now: Break Out finishes on Sunday. Hurry. [Read More]
A suggested answer to Samsung’s profit woes
Samsung recently reported lower than anticipated profits for the first quarter of 2007. “While operating profit came in slightly below market consensus, this shortfall was limited to weaker than expected performance in the semiconductor business,” said Lee Keonhyok of Samsung’s investor relations department in a telephone conference call. “While not making any excuses, it’s fair … [Read More]