It was a good time to launch a play called “This isn’t Romance”. Helium-filled red valentine’s day hearts floated from the balcony of the Soho Theatre, encouraging the passing trade. But people turning up on the Friday night (its second night) expecting to buy tickets were disappointed. It was a sell-out performance, and deserved to … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 181)
The BKVA annual report 2008
With the kind permission of Colonel GM Gadd OBE, National Chairman of the British Korean Veterans Association, we reproduce here the annual report of the BKVA’s activities, as presented to the annual general meeting of the Anglo-Korean Society last week. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE ANGLO-KOREAN SOCIETY HELD AT THE KOREAN … [Read More]
President’s Last Bang gets uncensored DVD release
Im Sang-soo’s controversial black comedy receives a UK DVD release this month, with four minutes of documentary footage, excised by the censors, restored to the cut. Based on the true story of the events leading up to and immediately following the 1979 assassination of South Korean President Park Chung-hee, the controversial satirical black comedy The … [Read More]
Sandglass the best TV drama ever?
It’s official: Sandglass (모래시계) is the best Korean Drama since 1980. And maybe that qualifies it as the best Korean TV drama ever, but I’m sure there are knowledgeable people out there who will cite a gem from the 70s. Not only was it voted best Drama by those in the know – “20 star … [Read More]
Who’s Who Two
You take your eye off the ball for a couple of months, and everything changes. A while ago, I wrote an article for The East newspaper entitled Who’s Who in the Korean Blogosphere highlighting, in the limited space available, some of the top K-blogs out there. It generated a certain amount of comment, the gist … [Read More]
The wave that never was? Mark James Russell’s Pop Goes Korea
Eighteen months ago, Mark Russell caused a minor stir at Naver and in the local Korean press by christening the hallyu the “Zombie Wave”. At the time, industry watchers were concerned that the momentum behind the overseas success of some of Korea’s TV dramas and movie seemed to be waning. Was the Korean wave dying? … [Read More]
Lord Alton and Baroness Cox return from Pyongyang
Press release dated 7 February UK PARLIAMENTARIANS RETURN FROM NORTH KOREA CALLING FOR US TO END HOSTILITIES British Parliamentarians Lord David Alton and Baroness Caroline Cox have returned today from a five day visit to North Korea and are calling on the new Obama administration to bring about a formal cessation of hostilities and normalisation … [Read More]
Good Bad Weird on general release
We saw it at the festivals last year, now it’s on mainstream release. Astoundingly, the normally hostile Wendy Ide in The Times gives it 4 out of 5, while Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian gives it a more measured 3 out of 5. LKL probably would split the difference, as does Tom Huddleston in Time … [Read More]
FT hails New Malden parakeets, and other recent London Korean stories
First up, Professor Keith Howard from SOAS got featured in the JoongAng daily in an article entitled Samulnori beats in an English heart, on the occasion of a recent trip to Seoul to attend a Samulnori symposium. Professor Howard will soon be off to sunnier climes, with a year in Sydney Australia. Howard was recently … [Read More]
February Events 2009
Here’s what’s coming up in February Visual arts: The Choi Jeong-hwa KCC first anniversary show Shine a Light continues at the KCC. There’s a discussion forum on 5 February. Lee Jae-hyo’s solo show finishes at the Albermarle Gallery on 3 Feb, while Bae Chan-hyo’s show wraps up on 7 Feb at Purdy Hicks, as does … [Read More]
Forge of Nature – a look at Lee Jae-hyo’s current exhibition at Albemarle Gallery
Lee Jaehyo was born in Hapchen, Korea, in 1965 and obtained his BFA in Plastic Arts from Hongik University, Seoul, in 1992. His first solo show was in 1996, but it is really in the last few years that his career has snowballed, with three solo exhibitions in 2007 and four in 2008 – including … [Read More]
Celebs, Pit bulls and hairdos
As is customary at this time of year, I’ve been looking at the readership statistics. And, in general, the results are remarkably similar to last year. Yes, it’s the same old celebrities which generate the traffic. For those who know what they’re looking for it’s Super Junior which is the sure winner, while for those … [Read More]
Credit crunch latest: LKL reports record deficit
LKL this week joined the ever-growing list of prestigious organisations reporting record losses. In an announcement made on Friday, LKL’s CEO confirmed the disappointing results. “We had record advertising revenues, but unfortunately investment in infrastructure more than outweighed this success. We could save on technology, but only at the expense of performance and innovation. We … [Read More]
Donald Kirk on the late 90s financial crisis
Donald Kirk: Korean Crisis: Unraveling of the Miracle in the IMF Era Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (1999) The strength of this book is that is brings together in one place the reportage of one of the key foreign journalists based in Seoul during the 1990s. With access to politicians, press releases and Korean and foreign businessmen, … [Read More]
Oriental male, Western female
One of the most memorable images in the 4482 exhibition on the South Bank last October was a large, carefully staged, meticulously lit photo of a scene from a fairy tale. An elaborate coach looks as if it could turn into a pumpkin at any moment. It’s certainly not going anywhere, despite the alert coachman … [Read More]
Yuasa Katsuei: a Japanese colonial novelist
Yuasa Katsuei: Two Japanese Colonial Novels Kannani (1934), Document of Flames (1935). Translated by Mark Driscoll, Duke University Press (2005) Yuasa Katsuei was born in Japan in 1910 and before his second birthday moved to Korea where his father worked in the colonial police force. He went to university in Tokyo from 1929, before returning … [Read More]