Embed from Getty Images From the Court Circular page of the Buckingham Palace website: 9 February 2017: His Excellency Mr. Choe Il was received in audience by The Queen today and presented the Letters of Recall of his predecessor and his own Letters of Credence as Ambassador from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 45)
February events 2017
Film The Korean Film nights restart with a season of horror films / thrillers curated by Colette Balmain. We kick off with Princess Aurora (Dir: Pang Eun-jin, 2005) and The Red Shoes (Dir: Kim Yong-gyun, 2005) on 16th and 23rd February respectively. A second screening of Princess Aurora will take place at SOAS on 24 February. Exhibitions … [Read More]
New and upcoming non-fiction titles for 2017
As a follow up to my post on literature and fiction titles coming up in 2017 (now updated twice), here are some of the upcoming non-fiction publications that I’ll be looking out for. There are of course many others: simply do an advanced search on Amazon with keyword “Korea” and publication year 2017 and you may … [Read More]
Scholarships for Undergraduates and Post-graduates Studying Korea
An announcement on behalf of the British Korean Society, the British Korean Veterans Association and the British Association for Korean Studies: Scholarships for Undergraduates and Post-graduates Studying Korea The British Association for Korean Studies administers two sets of bursaries for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The deadline for both schemes this year is 3 April 2017. … [Read More]
New and upcoming literature and fiction titles for 2017 [updated]
![Thumbnail for post: New and upcoming literature and fiction titles for 2017 [updated]](https://londonkoreanlinks.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2017-titles-500x455-1-120x120.jpg)
As I’ve been looking back at the books of 2016 I realise that there are a few recent publications I missed. Here are some of them, along with some that are advertised to be out this year. I do wish there was a decent source to tell you what’s new or coming up soon. Publishers’ … [Read More]
The reviews of ZICO’s London gig
The general verdict is that ZICO’s 5 January gig in Camden was 40 minutes of excellence, but as for the rest of it, well it wasn’t what people paid for. A couple of vlogs below, first from KpopSteve: and second from GZBKarma: … and a couple of reviews – from KondaKorea | MACG Magazine | … [Read More]
Choigate and Park Geun-hye’s censorship of the arts – contd
A couple more links relating to censorship under Park Geun-hye, which will be updated as news breaks. First, a re-post of the pdf purporting to be the blacklist of 9,473 names, first posted here. 10 Jan 2017: Via Br Anthony comes the “appalling news … that [Park] personally gave orders that the two most important … [Read More]
Book review: Hwang Jungeun — One Hundred Shadows
Hwang Jungeun: One Hundred Shadows Translated by Jung Yewon Tilted Axis Press, 2016, 147pp Original published as 百의 그림자, Minumsa, 2010 The 2009 Yongsan apartment building disaster barely registered in the news media outside of Korea. But in its way it registered domestically much as the Sewol disaster did, acting as a rallying point against an … [Read More]
Kim Jong Un’s 2017 New Year Address
The following is the text of Kim Jong Un’s 2017 New Year Address, sourced from Rodong Sinmun: Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, made his address on the New Year, Juche 106 (2017). The … [Read More]
January events 2017
Exhibitions Han Collection’s exhibition of colonial era posters and prints runs from 6th to 28th January. The UK Korean Artists Association has a two week exhibition, i, kid, at the KCC, 16 – 28 January. The exhibition opens with a performance on 16 January. The London Art Fair runs from 18th to 22nd January. Screenings … [Read More]
A look back at some of the books of 2016
To cut to the chase, here are my two books of the year for 2016. For more detail, read on. Literature in translation The world of translated fiction seems to have been dominated by two names this year, one Korean and one British. The Korean name of course is Han Kang. Just as The Vegetarian … [Read More]
A review of the London Korean year 2016
As is traditional at this time of year, we look back at some of the highlights of the London Korean Year. Exhibitions Is it my imagination, or was there less going on this year? Certainly from the perspective of contemporary art, we have been through a lull this year. With HADA Contemporary gone, Mokspace reborn … [Read More]
Festival Film review: Spirits’ Homecoming
Spirits’ Homecoming depicts the abduction and suffering of Korean girls forced into sexual slavery during the Pacific War, interweaving wartime trauma with the present-day lives of survivors. The narrative seeks release from unresolved grief and historical denial through a shamanistic ritual. LKL’s review is informed by a Q&A and panel session with the director. [Read More]
Season’s greetings to all our readers
Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all of LKL’s readers, friends and contributors. Have a peaceful break. As in previous years, thanks are due to Jieun Kim aka The Drawing Hand for the London Korean Christmas design which adorns the cards that some of you will have received. This year thanks are … [Read More]
K-music review: Darkness Poomba at The Place, Euston
For the final event of K-Music 2016 we were introduced to the first UK visit of Modern Table headed by the multi-talented Kim Jae-duk, who choreographed the work as well as being an integral member of the dance troupe, though much of the time he was also front of stage singing or playing various wind … [Read More]
Book review: Without You, There Is No Us
Suki Kim: Without You, There Is No Us. Rider / Penguin Random House, 2015, 291pp I always come to books about the DPRK with a certain amount of reluctance, because there are far too many of them and I wonder what each successive book will have to say that is new. I approached this one … [Read More]