Courtesy of Tom Coyner, here’s an explanation of what operational control is all about. The recent Washington Post article is a reasonably good survey of some of the current tensions between Korea and the U.S., specifically over their respective policies toward North Korea and over a number of alliance issues involving the U.S. military presence … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 221)
Why Koreans have so many bank accounts
This is such a fun article I have to quote it in full. High frustration in a low-trust country By Harold Piper, JoongAng Daily, 3 September 2006 Korea is a funny country. Actually, I quite like it. There is a lot to be said for a big city where a woman can go out safely … [Read More]
The Asian fine wine craze
The FT’s rather silly How to Spend It magazine had a feature this weekend on the growing popularity of fine wine in the far east, particularly the top Bordeaux. The main picture accompanying the article was of a glamorous young woman sipping a glass of red, purportedly in a fashionable Seoul wine bar. The article … [Read More]
Aidan FC’s whirlwind week of media exposure
Here’s a link which I’ve been meaning to post for a while, but other things have always got in the way. It’s Aidan Foster-Carter’s entertaining account in the Asia Times of his whirlwind week of media exposure as DPRK rent-a-pundit following Kim Jong-Il’s fourth of July firework display. Enjoy. And read all of Aidan’s Asia … [Read More]
September events 2006
Here are the events we currently know about for September, in date order: 6-7 Sept 2006 Halifax Hall, Sheffield University Annual conference of British Association for Korean Studies. “Generations in Korea: Past, Present and Future”. 10 Sept 2006 British Museum Talk on Mingei, including Korea’s place in that movement. Stephenson Lecture Theatre 11-12 Sept 2006 Bloomsbury … [Read More]
Kim Ki-duk’s apology
The Chosun Ilbo has a good item on Kim’s apology to Korean cinema-goers. Visit the Chosun for the background and related links. The story is picked up in the koreanfilm.org forum, and a lively thread is ensuing. The consensus seems to be that if Kim wants Koreans to go to his movies, he should make … [Read More]
Is The Host anti-American (spoilers)?
The packed performance of The Host at Frightfest on Monday went down well. We were told by the organisers that we were watching the longest possible print. Whether that means there are cuts in other theatrical versions I don’t know. One of the things about The Host is that it’s generated a lot of noise … [Read More]
Korean hairdressers in London
When I started this site I never dreamed that I would end up helping to recruit language coaches for government agencies, or advise people on where to go to get their hair straightened. But those are two of this site’s recent successes, thanks to you, dear readers. So thank you to the various visitors to … [Read More]
Some good pictures
Firstly, some photos from 1970s Seoul. Commentary on Antti Leppänen’s site here and here. Antti’s site has a number of good posts with photos. All his photography posts can be found collected together on this del.icio.us page. Enjoy at your leisure. Also, some images from the Korean war, courtesy of the Chosun. And finally, something … [Read More]
Keith Howard (ed): Korean Pop Music – riding the wave
Keith Howard (ed): Korean Pop Music – riding the wave Global Oriental, 2006, 250 pp A very readable introduction to the history of Korean popular music. While the book is a collection of articles by different scholars, careful selection ensures that there’s no duplication and that the coverage is chronological. And for once in a … [Read More]
Foreign lawyers to boost Korean tourist industry?
The England & Wales Law Society Gazette notes that there’s a draft bill which will be going before the Korean National Assembly later this year which will enable foreign law firms to open up offices in Korea. This has long been lobbied for (London lawyers have been trying to open up opportunities in Korea at … [Read More]
Requests for advice: hairdressers and bookshops
Two queries received recently from visitors to this site. Bookshops (1). Does anyone know a bookshop in central London, New Malden, or anywhere in between, where they sell Korean books? That is, books written in Korean (novels, short stories, whatever) rather than books in English about Korea. Hairdressers. Does anyone know a good Korean hairdresser? … [Read More]
A seriously cool thing about Seoul
Having made a couple of recent posts about how expensive Seoul is to live, I’d like to balance it with a positive post. Every now and then I see articles about things going on in Seoul which makes me want to be there. And this article in the Chosun is one of them. Robot Taekwon … [Read More]
Seoul’s working hours
Seoul has the world’s longest working hours, according to the Chosun Ilbo: People in Seoul work the longest hours per year in the world, says a study by the Swiss financial group UBS. In its report “Prices and Earnings,” the Swiss financial group UBS says Seoulites spend more than 2,300 hours at work each year. … [Read More]
Countdown to the Host (2)
The London debut of the Host is one week away. And it’s still breaking box office records. It’s sold out at the Edinburgh Festival, where Bong Joon-ho will be making a personal appearance, while in Korea, after one week according to the Chosun, the film brought in some 2.7 million viewers in just four days, … [Read More]
Afghanistan worst fighting “since the Korean War”
It’s taken the interview over a week to make it from the BBC World Service onto BBC TV primetime (News at Ten) but on Friday evening the Beeb had a feature on the British military presence in Afghanistan. The interview was with Lt Gen David Richards (left). He is commanding the Nato force in the … [Read More]