London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

A visit to Min Young-ki

When I visited Sancheong for the first time in 2010 one of the items on my agenda was a visit to Sancheong’s finest potter – and indeed one of Korea’s most renowned tea-bowl makers – Min Young-ki (민영기). Unfortunately owning to a diary mixup Min Senior was not there, and instead I had a very … [Read More]

Jukhee Kwon: Being, at La Scatola Gallery

News of Jukhee Kwon’s solo show in the City: Jukhee Kwon: Being La Scatola Gallery 22.06.12 – 10.08.12 Jukhee Kwon ’s work is the accumulative result of a destructive and repetitive process; the individual book, through the artist’s reworking, becomes something monumental, often returning to its original form- from tree to book, from book to … [Read More]

Some regional foods in Sancheong

Sancheong: the name of the county literally means Mountain Purity. So the foods of the region use ingredients from the mountains – especially fresh herbs – and the clean rivers. Here are some of the foods I have sampled during the course of a few visits to the county: Fruits While fruits are not unique … [Read More]

New London Korean restaurant is recruiting

If you google “Bibigo London” you’ll find lots of job adverts for the new London branch of the international Bibigo restaurant chain run by CJ Foodville. It opens this summer in Great Marlborough Street with staff training planned for July. The top job is already taken: the London operation will be headed by Korean celebrity … [Read More]

Exhibition visit: Park Seungmo — A Present Moment at HADA Contemporary, Vyner Street

Park Seungmo : A Present Moment at HADA CONTEMPORARY, Vyner Street A review by Eunjung Shin Vyner Street is one of London’s must-visit places for contemporary art and has recently added Korean contemporary gallery, HADA CONTEMPORARY to its list of galleries. (The quiet street was very different from the one I remebered from the first … [Read More]

Planet of Snail: “one of the most life-affirming viewing experiences I’ve ever had” says Twitch

If like me you were bored by the recent release of Kim Ki-duk’s self-indulgent documentary and professional suicide note Arirang, you can expect something a lot better from Yi Seung-jun’s documentary Planet of Snail. If the K-pop bash at the Dome this Saturday is not your thing, a civilised time can be had at the … [Read More]

Korean poets perform in London

As part of the South Bank Centre’s Poetry Parnassus, two Korean poets will be appearing later this month in London and elsewhere. The event, part of the Cultural Olympiad, is designed to bring together writers from every Olympic nation for the 2012 celebrations. Representing South Korea is Kim Hye-soon: Kim Hye-soon was one of the … [Read More]

Korean Air needs a language consultant…

Unfortunate Korean Air commercial promoting flights to Nairobi, Kenya, and encouraging travels to enjoy the “indigenous people full of primitive energy”. Originally tweeted by journalist Wouter van Kleef, and expanded upon by Al Jazeera, with some of the Kenyan response including this image from C_mwangi. [Read More]