London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Hanna Bites the Dust

This is not new news to many of you, but I only found out about it a week or so ago. My favourite Korean food store in the centre of town, Hanna Supermarket in Store Street, is closed down. And by the looks of things, pretty permanently: There are other Korean food stores in town, … [Read More]

Jang Sun-woo season: “A Petal” to screen at KCC

Back in October 2008, a creative Korean traditional music group called Baramgot, led by composer-musician Won Il, gave a sparsely attended concert at St Giles Church Cripplegate. It was their first UK performance, and no-one knew quite what to expect. They blew us all away with their haunting, atmospheric music, and the concert was one … [Read More]

Hahoe and Yangdong listed at UNESCO

Congratulations to historic villages Hahoe and Yangdong, “two of the most representative historic clan villages in the Republic of Korea,” and Korea’s latest inclusion in the UNESCO world heritage list, on 31 July. http://bit.ly/cqjKEl # The BBC has some nice photos of both villages, plus other UNESCO sites listed along with them including Reunion Island … [Read More]

Celtic v Arsenal: interview with Ki Sung-yueng

Aashish Gadhvi is amassing an impressive collection of exclusive interviews with South Korea’s best footballers. He caught up with Ki Sung-yueng after scoring for Celtic against Arsenal in the Emirates Cup on 1 August 2010. Ki is on fine form: excellent English, and relaxed and informative. In fact he interviews much better than many English … [Read More]

On the Other Side of the Globe

On the Other Side of the Globe – first major contemporary Korean art and design exhibition in Manchester Manchester Digital Laboratory (Madlab) is a new community space for people who want to do and make interesting stuff – a place for geeks, artists, designers, illustrators, hackers, tinkerers, innovators and idle dreamers; an autonomous R&D laboratory … [Read More]

Kaya launch their website

Congratulations to KAYA, Ji Eun Jung (Kayagum) & Sung Min Jeon (Guitar), on the launch of their website and two albums: http://bit.ly/dwbkR8 #. And if you go to Kaya Restaurant in Albemarle Street you’ll likely hear some of their music being played. [Read More]

Yonsama “longs for” Kim Jong-il

Bae Yong-joon in funny photoshopped propaganda poster for DPRK. Doesn't look much like him though. “I want to live in the loving arms of gracious General Kim Jong-il” he’s saying. http://bit.ly/at7z0F #. The image is from the DMZ Museum in Goseong, Gangwon-do, which showw both sides using (South Korean) celebrity pictures to lure the other … [Read More]