Dr Jun Kwang Woo, the Chairman of the Korean Financial Services Commission, is in Paris and London this week for a range of meetings, including the UK finance minister and the FSA. He will also be speaking to the Korea Discussion Group at Chatham House on Friday afternoon at 4pm. His subject is Korea’s responses … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 189)
Recycled jeans raise $232,000
Records were tumbling at the Christie’s auction of contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong on 24 May. As was to be expected, most attention (and cash) was focused on Chinese artists, but auction records were also set for individual artists from Indonesia, India and South Korea. One of the Korean artists featured was Choi So-young … [Read More]
LKL seeks Cambridge correspondent
This Saturday (May 31) I’m faced with the choice between (a) a jaunt to Cambridge for a fascinating half-day conference on how history is portrayed in current Asian media; and (b) a second-rate monster movie in London. Guess where my priorities lie. So if anyone wants to volunteer to go along to the conference and … [Read More]
Im Sang Soo faces London grilling
Korean film director Im Sang Soo is participating in two Q&A sessions this week: Friday at the KCC and Saturday at the ICA, the latter in conjunction with the screening of The President’s Last Bang. It has been said that Im Sang Soo is practically the only director now making films that take a long … [Read More]
Still vacancies for KCC Map show educational programme
As mentioned in my notice of the KCC’s fascinating map exhibition, there’s a Saturday afternoon educational event aimed at children aged 7 – 13. There are still some places available for the event on June 7th. Details are in the attached document. [Read More]
Mad Cows: President Lee’s apology
The following is the full text of President Lee Myung-bak’s statement in a live TV broadcast at Cheong Wa Dae on 22 May to address the resumption of U.S. beef imports and ratification of the Korea-U.S. FTA. Courtesy of the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOIS). For those who haven’t been following the Mad Cow … [Read More]
Trafalgar Square Dano Festival 2008: initial details
DANO Korea Summer Festival Trafalgar Square Sunday 8 June 2008 1pm to 7pm FREE EVENT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY Trafalgar Square will be transformed into a mini Korea for the annual DANO celebrations on Sunday 8 June. The second DANO Korea Summer Festival provides a fascinating insight into the culture and customs of Korea featuring … [Read More]
Korean Film Society launched
The twice-monthly film screenings at the KCC have got a strong body of supporters, and the films are very well attended. But, given the level of support, wouldn’t it be nice if we could build something around the screenings — a free and easy forum for enthusiasts and newcomers to talk about the varied world … [Read More]
Question mark over Kingston Korean Festival 2008?
The open-air festival on the Fairfield Recreation Ground in Kingston, organised by the Korean Residents Society, usually happens in August every year, though last year it was June. This year, the date is not yet confirmed, and there are doubts about whether it will be happening at all. I’ve heard a few inside stories about … [Read More]
Koreans in New Zealand
I had known for a while that New Zealand is a place where Koreans have been travelling – and settling down – for a number of years. At the BFI London Film Festival in 2004 there was a short film entitled Eating Sausage (Zia Mandviwalla, 2004), about Korean immigrants in Auckland; while Bungee Jumping of … [Read More]
Family Ties to screen at KCC
The next film to feature at the KCC is Family Ties, also known as Birth of a Family (가족의 탄생), starring one of my favourite actresses, the talented Moon So-ri (below right). Synopsis Mi-ra, who runs a small snack food restaurant, has a trouble-maker brother, Hyung-chul. After being discharged from the military, he goes missing. … [Read More]
A busy few weeks coming up!!!
We’re only halfway through May, but I thought I’d give you some warning that we’ve got a pretty busy few weeks ahead of us. I’ll be posting stuff about all of this this site in due course, but this is just a quickie in the interim. I don’t have the full details of some of … [Read More]
Mythology in the making: Seoul Selection’s Lee Myung-bak profile
Lee Myung Bak: Korea’s CEO President Seoul Selection, 2008 When their country has pulled itself up from the devastation of war in the space of fifty years, and a man has risen from poverty to the highest office in the same period, Koreans have every right to feel proud of themselves and their country. That … [Read More]
Dano Festival – Trafalgar Square
The scheduled Dano Festival 2008 in Trafalgar Square is one month away: Sunday 8 June. To whet the appetite, here’s the official video (10 minutes) from last year’s event: [Read More]
Sex and the City, Korean-style: a review of Min-Jin Lee’s Free Food for Millionaires
Min-Jin Lee: Free Food for Millionaires (Random House, 2007) I hesitated before packing this two-inch thick paperback into my suitcase for a week’s holiday. The cover design doesn’t give much away — a black top hat and slightly messy collection of different typefaces spelling out a title which leaves a lot to the imagination — … [Read More]
Who’s who in the Korean blogosphere
LKL is now providing articles for The East, the monthly English-language East Asian business & culture newspaper published in London. LKL’s remit for The East is, for the moment, pretty much undefined, which means I can write whatever I like. And Editor Lee can reject it if he doesn’t like it. It’s an interesting discipline … [Read More]