ROK Drop Book Review: Yin Yang Tattoo By Ron McMillan. Looks like a good novel for summer holiday reading. http://bit.ly/9hxn6M # Walk the Baekdu-Daegan: Korea’s mountain backbone: new book on the hiking trail. http://bit.ly/b9cmsu # An article about Brother Anthony (brilliant translator, says KTLit.com) and his new book about tea (not my cuppa!): http://www.ktlit.com/?p=1377 [Read More]
Month: July 2010 (page 3)
Oh Tae-seok’s Romeo and Juliet returns
Romeo and Juliet is coming to Kingston as part of the 4th New Malden Arts Festival. Presented by Mokwha Theatre Company, the most famous theatre company in South Korea, the performance is only UK date in 2010 of this mesmerising production which sold out at the Barbican in 2006. This highly stylised Romeo and Juliet … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #24: Lunch with Sancheong’s Mayor and the battle for the 2013 Donguibogam Expo
Thursday 6 May 2010. We drive to a quiet restaurant – though in Sancheong County that describes most of them. In the shaded car park we are greeted by a large reception committee. The mayor and his wife, all dressed in hanbok, are waiting, and many of the county officials. I think my friend Kyung-sook … [Read More]
My Love DMZ comes to Kingston
“Love” and “DMZ” do not often appear together in the same sentence. But this is the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, and there’s a special production as part of the New Malden Arts Festival on 20th July. And in a special deal, LKL readers will get free admission to the performance … [Read More]
Daisy (데이지, 2006) review: flawed but nice-looking romance-thriller
A Hong Kong / Korean co-production set in Amsterdam, Daisy would be a stunningly beautiful, engaging love story and suspenseful thriller if not for the lapses in logic and the fact that the narration pushes itself too far and takes itself a little bit too seriously. [Read More]
Korea’s hottest celebs — CNNGo
South Korea's 20 hottest male celebs: CNNGo’s list is topped by Jang Dong-gun, Won Bin and Bae Yong-joon. http://bit.ly/aZAANo – via allkpop http://bit.ly/cDqitG But why isn’t Lee Byung-hun on the list? # [Read More]
Castaway on the Moon to screen at the KCC
This week’s film at the KCC is Castaway on the Moon, directed by Lee Hae-jun, a quirky romance from 2009. Love HK Film comments: “Even though it starts off slowly, Lee Hae-jun’s eccentric comedy about urban isolation delights and charms with its irreverent humor.” Synopsis A man named Kim jumps into the dark, quiet waters … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #23: Turtle, Phoenix and Seal
Thursday 6 May 2010. Sancheong County in Gyeongsangnam-do occupies an area larger than Seoul (1), but its population is only 35,000. It is a land of mystery and legend, with ideas and importance more in proportion to its land mass than its population size. People there are very proud of where and who they are. … [Read More]
JYP’s new girl band
Do we need another manufactured girl band from JYP? What the heck, why not? Just hope they get original songwriters. Above: “Miss A” – slightly less cute than the current wave of k-pop girl bands. http://bit.ly/9GTF9h # [Read More]
Hyundai’s overseas construction projects
This kind of thing completely dwarfs export earnings from film and TV drama: Hyundai's huge construction projects including the proposed Hanoi Marriott (above) http://bit.ly/cyoeS0 # [Read More]
Pastel scarves for men the latest fashion craze
I can see pretty male silk scarves lasting about as long as male sarongs. http://bit.ly/9AUYwV # [Read More]
Mount Baekdu will erupt soon, say geologists
As if everything to do with North Korea isn’t depressing enough already, we are warned that Mount Baekdu will erupt in the next few years. http://bit.ly/9WVVgO # [Read More]
Kia Cee’d is Top Gear’s Sensible Car
"The Kia Cee’d is a car that lobs the paving slab of reality into the windscreen of preconception". Review on Top Gear, where it gets a creditable 11/20. It’s also the “sensible” car driven by celebs in the new TV series. http://bit.ly/9Qmh4s # [Read More]
Wake Up and Laugh!
Just discovered a great Korean Buddhist blog, Wake Up and Laugh! Their latest post Three months of eating garlic and mugwort analyses the Tangun myth, and in passing talks about the Korean saying “In the days when tigers smoked tobacco…”. # [Read More]
A Good Lawyer’s Wife (바람난 가족, 2003) review: a family having affairs
The Korean title only partially sets the scene: “A family having affairs”. On the surface, Im Sang-soo’s A Good Lawyer’s Wife positively pulsates with explicitness while, at its heart, beats a deeply intelligent critique of family and the scars that familial bonds can create. In short, an utterly astonishing film. [Read More]
Present from the Past: meet the artists
The Korean Cultural Centre UK will be hosting an Artists’ Talk to go with the current exhibition: Present from the Past: the 60th Commemoration of the Korean War on 9 July, 2010. Participating artists will be invited for the talk and each will introduce their portfolio including the work submitted for this exhibition. A Q&A … [Read More]