London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

The Kimchi Project at The Greenwich Series

Many of you will have come across Antonia Mochan’s Kimchi Project – her one-woman campaign to visit all the Korean restaurants within Zone 1 and to review the quality of their kimchi, while raising money for charity. She’s giving a little talk about her project at The Greenwich Tavern on 1 July at 8pm as … [Read More]

Exhibition visit: Who is Alice? – Works from the MMCA collection at Spazio Lightbox, Venice

In previous years, the Venice Biennale has featured a number of Korea-related shows as collateral events scattered around the islands, giving a dedicated visitor the opportunity to walk through the backstreets and explore the vaporetto network while enjoying new artworks. In 2013 most of the Korean artists were gathered together in one place, in an … [Read More]

Tenor Yun Jung-soo’s Wigmore Hall debut

The Richard Tauber prize for singers is awarded every 2 years in a competition sponsored by the Anglo-Austrian Music Society. It is open to young singers of any country resident in the United Kingdom or Austria. The first prize is £5,000 plus a public recital in London. The 2010 winner was Yun Jung-soo. The Anglo-Austrian … [Read More]

Kim Joo-il interview: a defector reflects on life in the North and on cinematic realities

Kim Joo-il reflects on his defection from North Korea and critiques South Korean cinema’s “distorted” portrayals of the North. He details the absence of concepts like “human rights” under state brainwashing, advocates for refugee status for defectors in China, and describes North Korean film as a tool for regime-led propaganda and psychological indoctrination. [Read More]

Crossing – the defector documentary by Kim Tae-gyun – screens at Amnesty International

A quick note of an upcoming film screening at Amnesty International: Crossing (크로싱, dir Kim Tae-gyun, South Korea, 2008) Cast: Cha In-pyo, Seo Young-hwa, Shin Myeong-cheol Venue: Amnesty International UK, The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA Date: Mon 24 Jun 2013, 7.00 pm The film details the tragic plight … [Read More]

1956 – The birth of the hallyu?

Not really. But there’s a nice story in the Korea Herald about what is believed to be the first ever single released by a Korean artist in the U S of A: Ok Doo-ok’s East of Make Believe – a 1956 English-language remake of Korean singer Hyeon In’s Gohyangmanri, which roughly translates as “Miles Away … [Read More]

Joohee Chun in Orchestrated Harmony at HF Contemporary Art

Joohee Chun will be appearing in a group show entitled “Orchestrated Harmony”, 18 – 30 June 2013 at HF Contemporary Art. Other artists in the exhibition are Joseph Beuys, Glory Charles, Ronnie Flotsam, Daisaku Kawada, Axel Staudinger, Helen Steele, Christa Walhof and Emmerich Weissenberger VENUE: HF Contemporary Art, Shop 7, Truman Brewery, Dray Walk off … [Read More]