London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Kang Sok-kyong: The Valley Nearby

Kang Sok-kyong: The Valley Nearby Tr Choi Kyong-do Heinemann Asian Writers Series, 1997. Originally published as 가까운 골짜기, 1989 Living in the country, Yun-hee is engaged in a solitary struggle. Her two worlds, that of a rural housewife and that of an advocate for equality, are at odds with each other. As her artistic, alcoholic … [Read More]

Sardine Santa at the COEX Aquarium

Joongang picture of the day — Sardine Santa at the COEX Aquarium: a diver in a Santa Claus costume plays with a swarm of sardines during an underwater feeding show at the aquarium in southern Seoul. The show is held four times a day until just after Christmas. Source: JoongAng Daily. # [Read More]

Petal essay contest Salon des Refusés 3

Peter Corbishley offers his entry into the “There a Petal Silently Falls” essay competition. A Korean novella – a human tragedy It is unnerving to have images from a half-recollected film1 play through a reading of There a Petal Silently Falls.2 Yet that sense of disorientation evocatively models how the girl’s bewildered spirit-awareness3 interweaves, recalls … [Read More]

Cold Cell in the Old Police Station

Notice of an interesting exhibition put on by the Union Gallery. 19 December 2009 – 10 January 2010 UNION at the OLD POLICE STATION, 114 Amersham Street, London SE14 6LG The exhibition will take place in the prison cells and ground floor gallery space of a now disused police station. Like the title already suggests, … [Read More]

Photo Essay: Yin and Yang in Korean Dance

Jo Seong-hee captures Yi Chuljin and Nam Youngho in rehearsal with some stunning images. Text by the editor. In a carefully-planned and stimulating collaboration at Roehampton, Yi Chuljin and Nam Youngho presented an evening of balances and contrasts, explicitly referencing Yin and Yang on several layers. Most obviously, we had a male and a female … [Read More]

Petal essay contest Salon des Refusés 2

The LKL Editor contributes his own unsuccessful entry into the “There a Petal Silently Falls” essay contest. Ghosts of Kwangju Ch’oe Yun’s There a petal silently falls is an interesting choice for a first Korean literature essay contest. Elusive in content, obscure in characterisation and insubstantial in length, it encourages a discussion not about the … [Read More]

Day trading in Derivatives, ajumma-style

South Korea boasts the world’s largest market for equity derivatives by number of contracts traded, with 2.7bn stock index options contracts traded in 2008, according to the World Federation of Exchanges. This compares with 514m traded on Eurex, the next biggest market on that measure. Private traders, encouraged by high leverage gains and low trading … [Read More]

Petal essay contest Salon des Refusés 1

Earlier this year the Korean Literature Translation Institute sponsored an essay competition based on Ch’oe Yun’s There a Petal Silently Falls. Now that the finalists have been announced, Michael Rank is the first to offer his submission for publication on the pages of LKL. The Kwangju (Gwangju) massacre of 1980 has been called the most … [Read More]

Films from the 30s at the KCC

Notice of this week’s screening at the KCC. Note that the start time is 6:00pm: Thursday 10th December 2009 The Past Unearthed: A collection of films from the 1930s On Thursday the 10th December at 6pm we hope you will join as at the Korean Cultural Centre where we will be screening a collection of … [Read More]

Cho Jung-yoon at St Dunstan-in-the-West

News of an upcoming lunchtime recital: Jung-Yoon Cho (violin) with Tadashi Imai (piano) Wed Dec 9th 2009, 1:15 pm St Dunstan-in-the-West, 186a Fleet St, London, EC4A 2HR Programme * J.S. Bach: Solo Sonata No. 2 – Grave and Allegro * Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata Op. 12 No. 2 A major * Franz Schubert: Sonata (Sonatina), … [Read More]