London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

2018 travel diary 2 – Chollipo revisited

10 November 2018. In Chollipo’s famous Arboretum the best of the Autumn colour had finished, but there were still some good reds, oranges and yellows to be found, and the grasses were particularly fine. In October last year this new statue of Carl Ferris Miller, Chollipo’s founder, was installed in this secluded area in the … [Read More]

Novus String Quartet coffee concert at the Wigmore

Novus String Quartet play Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky Sunday 16 December 2018 11:30AM Wigmore Hall £16 (Concs £14) includes programme and coffee/sherry/juice | Book tickets This concert will be approximately 1 hour in duration, without an interval Mendelssohn’s A minor quartet is an early work, written in 1827 when he was 18 and shows the impact … [Read More]

It will pass, someday: Gothic ethereality and introspection in RM’s Mono

RM’s second mixtape, Mono, dropped on 23 October 2018 almost two and a half years after the self-titled RM, which was released on 20 March 2015. Mono was accompanied by a music video for the final track “Forever Rain” with lyric videos released for “Seoul” and “Moonchild” on 23 and 24 October respectively. It followed J-Hope’s earlier … [Read More]

Festival Film Review: The Return

I was as delighted as I was surprised when I saw that the London Korean Film Festival had selected The Return for its closing gala screening. The huge numbers of overseas adoptions from Korea is often a sidelined subject and understandably wouldn’t be a natural choice when showcasing Korean culture and arts. But the 2018 … [Read More]

Wasafiri, the international literary magazine, launches Korea-focused number

The Winter 2018 issue of Wasafiri, the British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing, has a Korea focus. On sale now online or in good book stores. There will be a celebratory launch event on 21 February 2019 – details to be confirmed. Wasafiri Issue 96, Winter 2018 Special Issue – Korea: Divisions and Borders … [Read More]

Gender and Politics in Northeast Asia: Legislative Patterns of Female Legislators in Korea and Taiwan

Organised by the SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies, but of interest to Koreanists: Gender and Politics in Northeast Asia: Legislative Patterns of Female Legislators in Korea and Taiwan 5 December 2018, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm SOAS, Russell Square, College Buildings, Room 4426 Abstract Drawing insights from the literature on the effect of gender on … [Read More]

December events 2018

Finally, it’s calming down a bit, after a truly hectic couple of months, but there’s still plenty going on. Film and TV There’s another chance to catch Lee Chang-dong’s Burning prior to its theatrical release next year: 10 December at Regent Street Cinema The SOAS North Korea Society is hosting a screening of The Jangmadang … [Read More]

Exhibition: Hey Siri, What am I doing?

A brief group show featuring young Korean artists based in London: Hey Siri, What am I doing? Safehouse 2 | 137 Copeland Rd | London SE15 3SN 30th Nov – 2nd Dec (PV Night: 29th Nov 18.00-21.00) Hey Siri, What am I Doing? -Keeping it real? Hey Siri, What are You Doing? -I was just … [Read More]

UK BTS fan group seasonal events

Some meet-up events to keep UK ARMY members happy during December. Enjoy! BTS Christmas Party London, 15 & 16 December | Manchester, 29 December Purchase tickets on Eventbrite Happy Holidays ARMY! UKBTSARAMATION & BTSRADIO UK present to you our first annual BTS Christmas meet-up! The events will be occurring at two locations and across different … [Read More]

Festival Film Review: Microhabitat

Miso just about gets by, living in a cockroach-infested room, earning just enough to pay the rent by taking low-paid cleaning jobs. She has to budget carefully, and can just afford a couple of her little indulgences: smoking cigarettes (preferably foreign brands), and frequenting whisky bars for a drop of single malt on the way … [Read More]

BFI, KOFA and KCCUK announce archive exchange

Something to look forward to in February 2019: BFI, KOFA and KCCUK announce archive exchange to mark the centenary of the birth of Korean cinema More than ten of Korea’s oldest surviving films to screen to UK audiences for the first time in February 2019 at BFI Southbank and the KCCUK BFI restorations to show … [Read More]

John Lee and the Kingdom of Pines

Not a write-up of John Lee’s fascinating recent talk at SOAS – more a place to store a couple of images of the translations of relevant sources that he talked about so that I don’t lose them. I for one am looking forward immensely to seeing this material fully discussed in his upcoming monograph, Kingdom … [Read More]

The LKL 2018 Korea trip – an introduction

Overview My annual visit to Korea this year for once really didn’t have an agenda. Originally planned as a late October / early November trip to see some Autumn leaves and catch the tail end of the Gwangju Biennale, everything changed when I heard that Ahn Sook-sun was coming to London at that precise time … [Read More]