제8차 코리아학국제학술토론회 The 8th ISKS International Conference of Korean Studies 일시(Dates) : 2007년 ８월 16일(목)-17일(금) August 16 (Thurs) ~ 17 (Fri), 2007 장소(Venue) : 영국 런던대학교 쏘아즈(아시아아프리카학원) School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK 언어(Language) : 한국/조선어, 영어 (Korean, English) 주최(Co-organized) : 국제고려학회, 런던대학 SOAS 한국학센타, 국제고려학회 유럽지부 International Society for Korean … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 210)
A brief visit to the ULKS Korean night
As I wandered unchecked into the Conway Hall last night I had to negotiate several girls wearing hanbok and a chap who was steering a large stepladder into the auditorium. Inside the hall, trestle tables were arranged lengthwise, from the front to the back of the hall, lined with seated students chatting and eating as … [Read More]
Bugger Seoul, I’m off to Paris
Another recent article in the JoongAng Daily reports on the Korean long-hours culture. I experienced this first-hand during my recent trip to Seoul. I thought I’d call in at the office, and maybe encourage my colleagues out for a beer or two. I was due to turn up at around 6pm, but because I spent … [Read More]
Trot makes a comeback
To be perfectly accurate, I don’t think Trot ever really went away. Rather, like many trends in popular culture, its fanbase was getting older and there would come a point when no-one was listening to it any more. But when Trot compilations are selling millions through street vendors (see chapter 7 of Keith Howard’s book), … [Read More]
Oh Soojung Blogathon
To coincide with another retrospective of the complete oeuvre of Hong Sang-soo, Hell on Frisco Bay has announced a Blog-a-thon on the subject of A Virgin Stripped Bare by her Bachelors on March 21 this year. I gather that what this means is that anyone who runs a blog and who is interested can write … [Read More]
Six party talks, round 5
The text of the joint agreement on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament as provided by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and reproduced in the International Herald Tribune: The Third Session of the Fifth Round of the Six-Party Talks was held in Beijing among the People’s Republic of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, the Republic … [Read More]
Dulsori celebrates New Year in New Malden
The lunar new year came to a girls school in New Malden yesterday with more than a few bangs. Samulnori percussion group Dulsori visited Coombe Girls School in Clarence Avenue for a spectacular one hour concert in front of an enthusiastic audience of pupils and visitors — including the mayor of Kingston. The audience didn’t … [Read More]
Happy lunar new year
Best wishes for the year of the golden pig to all our visitors. [Read More]
No Wonjogyoje, but lots of bum cleavage
You can’t use refined language when it comes to Seunghee Kang’s work. It’s vibrant, lively, robust, and anything but refined. The colours leap out at you, the images full of fun but also somehow disturbing. And it’s difficult to know what to make of them. The centrepiece of the “Odd Couple” show in Bermondsey is … [Read More]
Hallyu and nationalism stories
A brief round-up of recent hallyu and nationalism stories. Rain’s producer, Park Jin-young, says the word “Korean” should be removed from “Korean Wave”. “I don’t understand why the Korean wave is taken as the rah-rah material,” Mr. Park said. “Now is the time to overcome nationalism, but instead we are intensifying that sentiment.” Park has … [Read More]
Kia Cee’d gets the thumbs up
The consensus among the motoring journalists is that Jeremy Clarkson might have to start revising his views on Korean cars (1). Korean cars in the UK have the reputation of competing on price rather than quality. But all this seems to be changing with the Kia Cee’d. From the FT this weekend: This is the … [Read More]
The Leeum Art Gallery, Seoul
A brief walk from Hangangjin subway stop (line 6) near Itaewon is the Leeum Gallery, set up by Samsung. No expense has been spared on the building itself, with prestigious foreign architects engaged to build it, and an impressive collection of artworks. The building itself is very spacious, and has three main sections. Older artworks … [Read More]
Welcome to two new contributors
Firstly, my apologies to Peter Corbishley for not welcoming him earlier. Peter kindly did the write-up of the Korea Business Reception while I was on my travels, and I hope he will contribute again in the future: he’s a loyal follower of the various Korean cultural events in London. And welcome to Anna Lindgren from … [Read More]
West, Philip and Suh, Ji-moon: Remembering the “forgotten war”
The Korean War through Literature and Art (M.E. Sharpe, 2001) An interesting and approachable collection of papers addressing how the Korean war is represented in the arts of the different countries involved. Chapters address Korean film, visual arts, and poetry, and also how the war impacted the lives and work of six Korean novelists. For … [Read More]
South Korea 1, Greece 0
It was a lacklustre first half, in which neither side looked like scoring. Greece were the more impressive side, but that was not saying much. They were first division, Korea were second division, and we were all expecting a bit of premiership sparkle. Fortunately, though, the half slipped by very quickly. As I had been … [Read More]
Uhm Jung-hwa #9: Prestige
Uhm Jung-hwa: Prestige (2006) After all the high jinks required to get this album off the ground, my expectations of the music to be enjoyed therein were low. They were triumphantly met. There’s nothing terribly objectionable about anything on this album, but then there’s nothing terribly arresting either. The thing which most sticks in the … [Read More]