Looking back at this year, it’s been one of the best for new translations of Korean literature that I can remember. There have been at least ten new fiction titles, and unusually for me I managed to get through all the titles I was intending to. All of them are recommendable in their different ways. … [Read More]
Year: 2021
Season’s Greetings to all our readers
Another year of intermittent lockdown and social distancing measures, and once again The Drawing Hand has risen to the challenge of creating a suitable seasonal image for LKL’s readers. It’s difficult to see how things are going to change much over the coming months. But we have our enthusiasms and friendships to sustain us. So, … [Read More]
A look back at some of the movies in the 2021 London Korean Film Festival
One month after the close of LKFF we’re finally getting around to penning some thoughts on the movies we saw there. We’ve already commented on Im Sang-soo’s latest, which left us with very warm feelings about the festival as a whole. What about the rest of the programme? Let’s get this out of the way … [Read More]
2022 IKSU Annual International Conference
Register for UCLan’s early January conference by the end of this year. Korean Politics and International Relations at Crossroads: Past, Present and the Future Friday 7 January -Saturday 8 January 2022 University of Central Lancashire | Flyde Road | Preston PR1 2HE || Online via Teams Register via EventBrite by 31 December This conference is … [Read More]
SpiritWalker gets limited release in London
For those who (like me) didn’t get to see this at LEAFF this year, SpiritWalker is screening at Odeon Kingston, Wimbledon and Haymarket from tomorrow for a few days. SpiritWalker (유체이탈자) Dir: Yoon Jae-keun (2020, 112 mins) Cast: Yoon Kye-sang, Park Yong-woo, Lim Ji-yeon, Park Ji-hwan Odeon Cinemas | www.odeon.co.uk From the makers of The … [Read More]
Review: Kim Bo-young – On the Origin of Species and other stories
After the mild disappointment that was the audiobook of Kim Bo-young’s I’m Waiting for You (let down by the somewhat unwieldy story The Prophet of Corruption) it was with a slight sense of wariness that I embarked upon the Kaya collection of her short stories On the Origin of Species. I was also cautious because … [Read More]
December events 2021
A quiet month to end the year, in which the highlight has got to be a performance by some talking Korean rice cookers just outside Coventry Exhibitions Bongsu Park’s In Dreams we Gather continues at Gallery Rosenfeld all month The KCC’s group show Nothing is – everything just has been or will be also continues … [Read More]
Cuckoo by Jaha Koo, at Warwick Arts Centre
“A journey through the last 20 years of Korean history told by a bunch of talkative rice cookers” has got to be worth a trip from London. Cuckoo by Jaha Koo Wednesday 8 December & Thursday 9 December 2021 7:45pm Studio | Warwick Arts Centre | University of Warwick | Coventry CV4 7AL | Book … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Heaven – To the Land of Happiness
In recent years the LKFF programmers have been getting into a groove of scheduling indie, minority interest movies for the closing film of the festival. This year, they turned things upside down by programming the festival’s most appealing film (for me, at least,) to end the fortnight. Yes, the opening movie, Mogadishu, is the top … [Read More]
Finding Angel released in UK cinemas
Heart-warming Christmas film Finding Angel from director Kim Seong-jun is coming to Cineworld and Odeon cinemas in the UK from 26th November 2021: Finding Angel (천사는 바이러스) Dir Kim Seong-jun (2017, 114mins) Lee Young-a, Park Sung-il, Chon Moo-song Cineworld: Aberdeen Union Sq| Birmingham Broad Street | Bolton| Cardiff | Didsbury | Edinburgh | Enfield | … [Read More]
A look at the closing movies from recent LKFFs
As I left the cinema after Friday’s closing movie of the 2021 London Korean Film Fest, somewhat on a high because it was such a good film and Q+A, I observed to a friend I happened to bump into: “That was the best closing gala for years!” As I said that, the most recent decent … [Read More]
CL plays the Village Underground
Rapper CL pays her first visit to London at the Village Underground on 30 November. The venue has been upgraded from the nearby XOYO venue to accommodate the demand for tickets. 54 Holywell Lane | Shoreditch | London EC2A 3PQ | www.villageunderground.co.uk She’s sure to perform numbers from her debut album, ALPHA, which includes Spicy: [Read More]
The Sound of Nature: Dal:um live at Southbank Centre
“Korean traditional instruments contain the sound of nature.” This is the opening line of Ha Suyean’s answer to my question regarding what Dal:um would like their international audience to know about ancient Korean instruments gayageum and geomungo. “For someone coming to these two ancient instruments for the first time, what will they discover?”, I had … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: The Singer
As is often the case, I was out of town for the London East Asia Film Festival, so I missed the international premiere of the Director’s Cut of Cho Jungrae’s The Singer. I’m not sure if the previously available version has had a formal international premiere – probably not, given the devastation that Covid has … [Read More]
Roundtable: Rewriting the history of culture in 1970s and 1980s South Korea
Two of my favourite essay collections. I’m definitely going to be registering for this University of Edinburgh Asian Studies Roundtable. Rewriting the history of culture in 1970s and 1980s South Korea Wednesday 17 November 2021, 4 – 6 pm (UK time) Dr Youngju Ryu (University of Michigan) and Dr Sunyoung Park (University of Southern California) … [Read More]
Interview: Cho Jungrae (The Singer, 2020)
Director Cho Jungrae discusses his deep personal connection to Pansori, his hands-on role shaping the music “The Singer”, and the film’s dialogue between tradition and modernity. In this wide-ranging interview with Hangul Celluloid and LKL, he reflects on legacy, influence, and how traditional sound can still resonate with audiences today. [Read More]