Park Ji-sung will be staying at Manchester United for a bit; but earning rather less than Rooney. http://t.co/iIGD2Mn # [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 126)
Smugglers of NK paintings busted
Do the math: on average one contraband North Korean landscape painting buys Kim Jong-il one bottle of brandy. (The article says the dealers’ “profits” amounted to around $24 per picture – assuming the margin is 50%, the amount the North Koreans get per painting is $24 per painting.) http://t.co/qmtXNfP # [Read More]
Han Ye-seul goes AWOL from TV drama filming
So, how bad is the TV Drama “Spy Myeongwol”, and how chaotic its filming, that Han Ye-seul went AWOL? http://t.co/FySsh17 # [Read More]
RIP Richard Rutt
RIP Richard Rutt (27 August 1925 – 27 July 2011), Roman Catholic priest, former Anglican bishop, sometime RASKB president, and pioneer in Korean studies. Tributes by Brother Anthony in the Korea Times and William Pore at H-net, with partial bibliography. [Read More]
Kara in Hanbok
I hate to say it, but I think Kara look better in the dangling-braces outfits they wore for their “Mister” routine than in these strange hanbok creations http://t.co/zGD38d8 # [Read More]
Kim Whanki and Lee Jung Seob in Christies Sale
A late Lee Jung-seop work – Fighting Bulls, 1955 – is coming up at Christie’s NY (14 Sept 2011). Estimate: a cool million. And double that for a gorgeous Kim Whanki (1913-1974) Landscape in Blue [Read More]
Exhibition visit: NOWS – Traverse over Time and Space, Hanmi Gallery
The third interim exhibition at Hanmi Gallery continues the theme of site-specific work by young Korean artists. On the ground floor, Eunsook Choi is an artwork in herself as she locks herself in the small glass-windowed office creating new paintings in real time. Juyoung Lee’s work responds to the imperfections of the building: mapping out … [Read More]
Festival visit: Perfordian Factory – Babbling Comedy 2
Babbling Comedy continues the fine tradition of non-verbal Korean acts which appeal to audiences of all ages. On paper, the performance contains little that seems innovative; and it would take a courageous producer to take on a comedy show that promises, as this one does, to include some hand-bell ringing. But in the overall context … [Read More]
Lee Charm’s Korean holiday itinerary
KTO chief Lee Charm shows good taste vacationing in Sancheong. http://t.co/hP4mhX5. No doubt getting a top-up of 기. http://t.co/7QfIfCj #. It’s nice to see a holiday itinerary that takes in all of the provinces. Maisan in Jinan-gun is definitely on my bucket list, but there are other things on the tour, and mentioned in the … [Read More]
Festival visit: Mokhwa Repertory Company – The Tempest
At his press conference in London last Monday, Oh Tae-seok spoke about his work with the Mohkwa Repertory Company. One of the priorities of Master Oh, who had spend many years as director of Korea’s National Theatre company, is to nurture the next generation of actors. And one of the pleasures of working with his … [Read More]
Festival visit: Jasmine Gwangju
Gwangju seems an event from the distant past, but in fact was only 31 years ago. This year, the archives which document the history of that brief uprising were listed by UNESCO in their Memory of the World register. With perfect timing, bearing in mind the democratic uprisings in the Arab world this year, the … [Read More]
FT asks for Unsuk Chin
The FT reviews Seoul Philharmonic / Chung Myung-whun playing Debussy and Ravel on DG, a release which coincides with their debut at the Edinburgh Festival http://t.co/Tf9s3on # The playing has precision and delicacy, showcased in the Mother Goose suite, but also the machine-like evenness characteristic of Asian orchestras. La Mer and La Valse are too … [Read More]
Photos from the Kingston Festival
Some snaps from today’s Kingston Korean Festival, on Michael Rank’s Flickr account. Let me know if anyone else has any. http://t.co/YBJYlfJ # [Read More]
The Seoul Subway Song
Via the Wall Street Journal Korea Realtime blog, http://on.wsj.com/naJZfF, comes Michael Aronson‘s catchy music video about Seoul’s subway system. Well worth a look / listen. [Read More]
Asian American Portraits of Encounter at the Smithsonian
Artists explore the Asian-American experience at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Looks like an interesting show: Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter http://t.co/BVVLxhi # [Read More]
A Korean Tempest: Sympathy from Mr Vengeance
Those who are familiar with Korean cinema will not need to be told that vengeance is a familiar topic, and indeed forms the theme for Park Chan-wook’s unplanned trilogy of films of which the best known is Oldboy. And probably many an essay has been written in Film Studies classes as to why Korean directors … [Read More]