Why is it that Western Korea-watchers are, in general, so cynical? Too often we criticise Korea for not listening to sound advice from us knoweldgeable, sophisticated Westerners. So Korea goes and hires the leading “National Branding” expert, Simon Anholt (a Brit, according to one blogger), to assist with a tourism strapline. Highly commendable. And the … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 207)
More news on DPRK London art exhibition
I’ve just received further information on the artists whose work will be on display in London this summer. It’s the top artists in the DPRK, and there should be something for everyone. The artists are: Jong Chang Mo (정창모) (People’s Artist, Kim Il Song Prize) – Korean Painting Son U Yong (선우영) (People’s Artist, Kim … [Read More]
Jumong a bright spot in media industry gloom
The Chosun recently reported a gloomy picture of the earnings of the Korean film industry. As Jon Pais speculated over at Twitch in November last year, Even if production costs stabilized, as the number of films increases, decreased profitability is inevitable. But production costs are soaring and don’t show any signs of slowing down. In … [Read More]
Im Kwon-taek reaches 100
With the nationwide release of Beyond the Years (천년학, aka Thousand Year Crane) in Korea today, Im Kwon-taek reaches an amazing milestone: his 100th film. And it’s supposedly his first love story, according to the Chosun – though it has to be said that devoted lovers have appeared in his earlier work – for example … [Read More]
The Classical Hallyu
Rain, BoA and their like are not the only singers to be known outside of Korea. In the classical music world, Jo Sumi has long been an international megastar. But there is an up-and-coming collection of Korean singers making their way in the highly competitive world of classical music. At the recent Maria Callas opera … [Read More]
March statistics
The Move Another objective for the year ticked off: March saw the successful move from EasySpace to Bluehost. No thanks to EZsitemove.com. They came recommended by Bluehost as people who could help move your stuff over. I thought it would be a nice insurance policy to have some outside help in case anything went wrong, … [Read More]
LKL’s first birthday
Well, I’ve been going for slightly longer than a year, but 9 April 2006 was when I first tentatively launched the site on its current WordPress platform. The original idea came to me in early February, and I started writing the permanent pages on 16 February. After a brief trial in my personal webspace which … [Read More]
Korean language meet-ups
The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed a new type of event at the bottom of my “April Events” post. It’s a Korean language meet-up. It seems there’s a group of like-minded people — some native Korean speakers and some learners — who meet up once a month in the West End somewhere, and, (I’m … [Read More]
WordPress 2.1.3 upgrade
Sorry for the brief hiatus this afternoon as I upgraded the site to the latest version of WordPress. It’s always more complicated than you think, as you find that not only do you have to upgrade the WordPress files: you also have to bug-fix to see whether all your plugins are compatible with the latest … [Read More]
DPRK art exhibition coming to London
With commendable forward publicity for a Korean cultural event, I hear of an exciting DPRK art exhibition coming to London in July and August this year. From 18 July to 31 August at a gallery space just off Trafalgar Square, it’s early days yet to have full details. But we know that DPRK artist Pak … [Read More]
Bae Doo-na’s London Photo Journal
Thanks to Mark Russell over at Korea Pop Wars for news of a photo journal of Bae Doo-na’s visit to London. Can any Korean speakers out there have a read of what appears to be Ms Bae’s official blog at Naver, and tell me how to get hold of the book? Update 11 April: It’s … [Read More]
Money where the mouth is
Is South Korea the only country in which there are regular press articles which highlight the amount of profits that foreigners make from the Korean market – the implication being that only Koreans should be allowed to make a profit? A recent Chosun article summarised the 2006 Central Bank investment statistics. Six months ago KBS … [Read More]
April events 2007
Arts Francesca Cho’s show continues at the East @ West Wing festival in Slough until 6 April Sora Kim continues at the Baltic space in Gateshead until 29 April (review here) Andreas Gursky’s giant photos of the Arirang Festival continue at the White Cube (review here) Roe Kyung-jo’s show From Canvas to Ceramic opens at … [Read More]
British-owned culture cafe opens in Bucheon
Thanks to Peter Orange for letting me know about an interesting new venture in Bucheon (부천): Cafe Nicolia, run by British / Korean couple Nicholas and Lia Young. From their website, it looks like a version of Seoul Selection, but obviously with more food and, I’m guessing, fewer books. On my rare visits to Seoul … [Read More]
The Japanese counter-wave
March’s edition of Seoul magazine has an interesting article discussing how cultural waves do not travel in just one direction. Supporters of Korean culture are keen to point out the unstoppability of the hallyu: Rain in the Philippines, BoA in Japan, Super Junior in China, TV Dramas everywhere (except the UK it seems). Back home, … [Read More]
“Experience” the mass games without leaving London
Andreas Gursky: new work White Cube Gallery, 23 Mar – 5 May 2007 One day my fairy godmother will wave her wand and magic me an all-expenses paid trip to Pyongyang to see the Arirang festival. Ever since seeing Dan Gordon’s film A State of Mind I’ve been wanting to experience the spectacle live. The … [Read More]