Saturday 1 May 2010. It’s the weekend, and Seoul Grand Park is busy. The funfair rides are full of fun-seekers, and there’s a queue to get in. There’s even a queue to get in to the car park of the National Museum of Contemporary Art: not, I would have thought, the most popular destination. But … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 157)
Clazziquai’s Horan to model corsets
“Horan’s mysterious moods and modern looks match well with our brand, Lefee” says a suit from M Corset, a female underwear manufacturer in Sinsa-dong. Clazziquai’s vocalist is to model for them. http://bit.ly/aLHAa0 # According to the same Korea Times article, she is now appearing as an intelligence agent in a TV drama entitled Call of Duty. [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #4: The Yongin Folk Village
Saturday 1 May 2010. Today is a tourism day. We head out to Yongin, just outside the famous city of Suwon where the UNESCO-registered Hwaseong Fortress is situated. Yongin contains a folk village which opened in late 1974, at the height of the Saemaeul movement when modernisation in the countryside was bringing to an end … [Read More]
British designers create Gongju Design Cafe
UK designers seek to transform Gongju town hall into a design cafe. Korea Times http://bit.ly/azWtvV #. Sponsored by Gongju City, the British Council and the Korean National University of Cultural Heritage, the renovation of the Japanese colonial-era (1910-45) building was completed by Michael Marriott, Anthony Burrill, Linda Brothwell, Fabien Cappello and Korean architect Kim Paik-sun. [Read More]
Park Chan-soo gives Buddhist art a new voice
Most classic representations of Buddha, and indeed many items of Buddhist art more generally, are quiet and pensive. As they have come down to us, they are painted in subdued and muted colours, or left in simple undecorated stone or metal. At her lecture at the KCC last week, Park Young-sook pointed out that originally … [Read More]
Shows, expos and festivals
If England was Korea, would the Chelsea Flower Show be called the Chelsea International Flower Festival? # [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #3: Moon Vases and Kim Gun Mo
Friday 30 April 2010. As usual, my arrival through Incheon Airport is swift and stress-free. Morgan, my interpreter, is there to meet me, my rental phone is ready for pickup at the SK Telecom desk, plus this time I have the added luxury of a driver (though the hotel limo-bus I usually take is also … [Read More]
One version of the official Red Devils supporter outfits
You've got to like the ultra-short official Red Devil world cup supporter mini-dresses! http://bit.ly/aJNN9Z # [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #2: The Schedule – where next?
My schedule, prepared with great care by the KOCIS team at the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism, contained a balance of sights and interviews that I had requested for my intended articles, together with sights which they thought might be interesting for me or which are on the normal programme for their visiting journalists. … [Read More]
Upcoming sale at Christie’s Hong Kong
Some absolutely cracking Korean work for sale at Christie’s Asia Contemporary Art sale in Hong Kong, 30 May http://bit.ly/ccX9U3 # – including works by Chun Kwang-young, Kang Hyung-koo, Kim Dong-yoo and Yi Hwan-kwon. All four artists have exhibited in London, Chun Kwang-young via I-MYU Projects and the others at various Korean Eye exhibitions. Update: Between … [Read More]
Hong Sang-soo wins Un Certain Regard
Hong Sang-soo wins Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes for Hahaha http://bit.ly/cjguln #. Nice shots of the Tongyeong area. Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry also wins the award for best screenplay. [Read More]
Im Sang-soo’s Housemaid remake at Cannes
South Korea debuts remake of erotic shocker 60s film at Cannes – Boston Globe and Mail on Im Sang-Soo’s Housemaid http://bit.ly/cjlQpl #. The film gets a rave review from Todd Brown at Twitch [Read More]
Samsung whistleblower’s new book
Former Samsung insider takes on Korean conglomerate http://bit.ly/cdV30I. Andrew Salmon reports for CNN on the new book “Think Samsung” by Kim Yong-cheol. Only available in Korean so far. via @JamesTurnbull. [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #1: Royal Ancestors and Lee Young-ae
It is always an efficient process arriving at Incheon Airport compared with most destinations I can think of. Immigration and baggage reclaim takes no time at all. I am met at the exit from immigration by Morgan Park, released from her university programme in Advanced Interpretation and Translation at Joong Ang University. She is to … [Read More]
Investigation Result on the Sinking of ROKS “Cheonan”
Here is the text of the report of the investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan, released today. Investigation Result on the Sinking of ROKS “Cheonan” THU. 20 MAY, 2010 The Joint Civilian-Military Investigation Group Opening Statement The Joint Civilian-Military Investigation Group(JIG) conducted its investigation with 25 experts from 10 top Korean expert agencies, 22 … [Read More]
What to expect from North Korea in the World Cup
World Cup 2010 Special: Ten things to expect from North Korea in South Africa (from Goal.com), including dependable defence and swift counter-attacks. And maybe some strategic advice from the Dear Leader? http://bit.ly/bSeNhZ # [Read More]