Films The BFI London Film Festival has two Korean films – Hong Sang-soo’s latest and Kim Kyung-Mook’s Stateless Things In the run-up to Halloween, the KCC’s screenings are in the horror genre: Possessed, Deathbell, and Yoga on 6th, 13th and 20th. Exhibitions A Device: Back to the Moment is at MokSpace until 6th October UNLASTED: … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 122)
How Korean Pop Conquered Japan
How Korean Pop Conquered Japan: K-Pop groups look and act like real adults, whereas J-Pop outfits often emphasize adolescent cuteness, says Patrick St. Michel in The Atlantic. [Read More]
So far from the Bamboo Grove discussed by Governor Romney
WikiLeaks: Massachusetts governor Romney discussed So Far From the Bamboo Grove with acting foreign minister Cho Jung-pyo in 2006. The book, on state school reading lists, contributes to a negative perception of Koreans. [Read More]
How to put Korean literature on the map: Charles Montgomery
Charles Montgomery gives his suggestions for Literature Translation Institute Korea for the next 10 Years. Well worth a read. [Read More]
Korean martial arts as empowerment for women
Korean martial arts as empowerment for women: interesting articles / books on Taekwondo in Broomfield Enterprise Online and Kuk Sool Won in Wrapped in Foil blog [Read More]
Kim Jong-il spends up to $200,000 a year on pets
AFP reports that Kim Jong-il spends up to $200,000 a year on pets, according to GNP MP Yoon Sang-hyun. “Kim Jong-il spends £120k on dog food” echoes The Sun [Read More]
Koreans: you drink sitting down. We drink standing up.
Koreans: you drink sitting down, with anju. We drink standing up, with no anju. When it’s warm, we stand outside. That’s just the way it is. And that’s why you see people drinking outside pubs in London on a nice evening. [Read More]
The Ryugyong Hotel: a North Korean poem
A North Korean poem: Ryugyong Hotel Now covered in glass So Kim Jong-il Can cover his as tonishing policy myopia (sorry, the last bit doesn’t quite scan) via Aidan Foster-Carter [Read More]
Arrow, the Ultimate Weapon – the historical background
Kim Han-min’s Arrow the Ultimate Weapon is a high-energy historical action flick which will get the London Korean Film Festival 2011 off to a rip-roaring start. Without revealing too much about the plot, suffice it to say that enough baddies get what they deserve to make you feel reasonably good on emerging from the cinema. … [Read More]
The founder of Taekwondo defected to the North
Fancy! The Torygraph’s 2002 obituary of Choi Hong Hi manages to omit that the founder of Taekwondo died in, er, Pyongyang. http://tgr.ph/oTJPXq. Via Aidan Foster-Carter. [Read More]
Do we need another Liaisons Dangereuses remake?
Do we need another Liaisons Dangereuses remake? EJ Yong’s was a bit dull. How will Hur Jin-ho fare with Jang Dong-gun? http://t.co/D5t6GM07 [Read More]
Korea aims to impose studying curfew at 10pm
The mission of Seoul’s hagwon inspectors: to find children who are studying after 10 pm. And stop them. Interesting article on Korean education in Time magazine. http://t.co/s77wkiRh [Read More]
Travel ideas in Gyeongju: the Teddy Bear museum
In Gyeongju? Had too much Silla dynasty culture? Try the Teddy Bear museum – including bears visiting models of tourist attractions such as the Seokguram Grotto. Cute. http://t.co/aPfXkhCF [Read More]
Korea’s metrosexuals lead the world
Korea is the metrosexual capital of the world, accounting for 18% of global sales of male beauty products and potions, according to the Chosun Ilbo. [Read More]
Korean adoptee elected to French senate
A Korean adoptee has been elected to the French senate for the Green Party. There are around 12,000 Korean adoptees in France. http://t.co/hZ9TIijx [Read More]
Historical Korean portraiture on show at two Seoul museums
Interesting feature on two exhibitions of Korean portraiture, including a 1617 portrait of “the first Korean in Europe” http://t.co/lVN629Bx, also http://bit.ly/r9fy9g [Read More]