Why does glitzy Gangnam need foreign bloggers to act as honorary publicity ambassadors? http://bit.ly/dP5y9R #. On second thoughts, the place needs all the help it can get: I never go there if I can possibly avoid it. [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 136)
Get totally immersed in Unsuk Chin this Saturday
Promenaders who were bowled over by Unsuk Chin’s Cello concerto in the Albert Hall in 2009 might be planning on a trip to the Edinburgh Festival to hear Šu, her new concerto for Sheng, a 17-pipe traditional Chinese mouth organ, to be performed by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra with Chung Myung-whun at the helm. There’s … [Read More]
Poetry actress becomes Chevalier des Arts et Lettres
Actress Yoon Jeong-hee (윤정희) (Poetry) joins Jeon Do-yeon, fashion designer Andre Kim, pianist (and Yoon’s husband) Paik Kun-woo and jazz singer Nah Youn-sun as Chevalier des Arts et Lettres http://bit.ly/i9rCRR #. I wonder if this is the first husband and wife both to have been given the honour. [Read More]
Shin Meekyoung is Guardian’s Artist of the Week
Meekyoung Shin is artist of the week in the Guardian http://bit.ly/gRS2Ce # Why we like her: Translation: Ghost Series is gorgeous. It’s full of fragile-looking vases with stout bellies or elegant swan-like necks in see-through shades, ranging from pale opal to brilliant pinks and yellows. [Read More]
Imjin remembered in Ale
What a great way to commemorate a landmark battle: Glorious Gloster Ale brewed to mark the 60th anniversary of the Imjin battle, says This Is Gloucestershire. Must get myself a pint or three. http://bit.ly/hmbDNw # [Read More]
1970s: the missing decade in Korean film?
Newcomers to Korean film can sometimes get the impression that Korean cinema started with Shiri. Indeed, one contributor to the recent Korean Film Blogathon claimed “Korea’s cinema was virtually non-existing until the new millennium”. Not a sentiment with which I strongly agree. While the last decade has certainly seen more than its fair share of … [Read More]
April events 2011
Here are the events I know of for April. Let me know what I’ve missed. Exhibitions: Shin Meekyoung’s Translation finishes at the Haunch of Venison on 2 April Monologues continues at the KCC all month Music: Get totally immersed in Unsuk Chin at the Barbican on 9 April, all day Keith Howard brings drums and … [Read More]
Are the six party talks a waste of time? Pyongyang won’t give up its nukes, says Choe Tae Bok
We all have our private thoughts on that question. The Chatham House talk this week (29 March) by Choe Tae Bok, Speaker of the North Korean Supreme People’s Assembly, was off the record, so I have not reported anything specific from the event. But given the timing of the visit, coinciding with the implementation of … [Read More]
The BKVA Annual Report 2010-11
Here is the text of the BKVA’s annual report, presented to the Anglo-Korean Society’s AGM yesterday. CHAIRMANS REPORT TO THE AGM OF THE ANGLO-KOREAN SOCIETY HELD AT THE KOREAN CULTURAL CENTRE ON TUESDAY 29 MARCH 2011 INTRODUCTION 1. I am pleased that I am able to attend this AGM to present the BKVA report for … [Read More]
Photo of the week: the Cheonan dead remembered, one year on
A mother of one of the 46 sailors killed when the Cheonan was sunk on March 26, 2010, cries in front of a relief sculpture of her son that is part of a monument unveiled on Baengnyeong Island, closest to where the ship sank. (photo: Joongang Ilbo / NEWSIS) [Read More]
Korean movie blogathon highlights level of interest in Korean film
We’ve just had the Korean film blogathon – a global event lasting a week which elicited around 150 articles from bloggers around the world. Ten years ago, the only English language website covering Korean film was Darcy Paquet’s koreanfilm.org (or if there was more than one, it was the only one that most people visited). … [Read More]
Jeon Ji-hyun’s comeback
Jeon Ji-hyun to feature in July issue of US Vogue to mark the release of her film Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – nice to see her back in the news after so long. http://bit.ly/ia2ohe # [Read More]
Choe Tae Bok in London
Choe Tae Bok, the Chairman of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, is in town next week on a charm offensive. Tea with Lord Alton and members of the North Korea All-Party Parliamentary Group at the House of Lords (Anglo-Korean Society members were included in the invitation) on Wednesday (30 March), dinner with Asia House corporate … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Nam June Paik at Tate Liverpool
Korean-born artist Nam June Paik (1932-2006) is often called the father of modern video art. Think of Nam June Paik and you probably think of his massive tower of 1,003 TV sets entitled The More the Better (1988) which dominates the entrance to the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Gwacheon just outside Seoul, or … [Read More]
Menari and Musan win awards
“Menari, the Sound of Korea”, a short documentary on eastern folk singer Park Soo-kwan wins Delphic Art Movie Award 2011 The Journals of Musan, a film about difficulties of Northern defectors, wins jury prize at Deauville Asian Film Fest http://bit.ly/gnzRaJ [Read More]
Korea and the tsunami
Some links relating to Korea’s response to the Japanese tsunami Korean Entertainers Step Up to Help Japan (Chosun Ilbo) http://bit.ly/dTcArk Even anti-Japan groups join the aid bandwagon – (JoongAng Daily) http://bit.ly/eraCyA Putting aside negative feelings toward Japan – A former comfort woman calls for philanthropic aid to neighbor http://bit.ly/eMcpW3 Quake moves Japan further away from … [Read More]