LKL wandered past the American Embassy yesterday afternoon to see the supporters the UK Korean Friendship Association who were protesting against the annual ROK-US joint military exercises. It will be remembered that the DPRK view of these exercises is that they are offensive, not defensive. Conveniently, the KFA published a press release about the demonstration. … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 54)
LKL at 10 years: a decade in statistics
In the early years of this website, I was rather obsessed with readership statistics. It was gratifying to see the readership grow, and it was informative to see what it was they were visiting the site for. After a while, I found that nothing much was changing. And I realised that if I were to … [Read More]
March events 2016
Here are the events for March. Let me know what I’ve missed. Exhibitions Two Seeds of Early Spring, by two students at the Royal College of Art, is at the RCA 1 – 5 March. The KCC’s Print Matters fashion exhibition lasts until 11 March. A one-off fashion showcase will be held at the KCC … [Read More]
LKL at 10 years: what has changed?
London Korean Links went online 10 years ago, on 1 March 2006. What has changed over that time, and how might things change over the next 10 years? For a start, there’s more of everything. More people following Korean culture in London, more events to follow. When London Korean Links started, it was a reasonable … [Read More]
LKL at 10 years: the frequently asked questions
LKL has been online for 10 years, and during that period I have been asked the same questions a number of times. Here are many of those questions, and the answers. Jeon Sung-min of the Euro Journal asked many of them back in 2008, and the answers haven’t changed much since then, but there are … [Read More]
BIFF controversy inching towards resolution? Probably not
With the news that the Busan Mayor Suh Byung-soo has stepped down from the position as figurehead of BIFF, perhaps the controversy over the festival is getting towards some form of resolution. The wonder, as most have pointed out, is how the controversy managed to arise in the first place. Tony Rayns marvels at the … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Yiyun Kang’s Casting, at the V+A
Yiyun Kang’s Casting installation, in which she projects lighting effects with pinpoint accuracy onto the complex 3-dimensional surfaces of Roman and medieval sculptures, is a slightly eerie and a very special experience. The technique, known called projection-mapping, requires painstaking measurements of the target surface to be taken, to ensure that the projection is not distorted by … [Read More]
Young Koreans feature prominently in this year’s Menuhin Competition
Koreans pianists have featured prominently in recent international music competitions, such as the Leeds, Chopin and Busoni. Now is the chance for the violinists to shine. Dubbed ‘the Olympics of the Violin’, the Menuhin Competition is the world’s leading competition for young violinists, held every two years in a different world city (most recently Austin, … [Read More]
Why Han Kang’s Human Acts is likely to be my book of the year
Han Kang: Human Acts Translated by Deborah Smith Portobello Books, 2016, 224pp Originally published as 소년이 온다, Changbi Publishers Inc, Seoul, 2014 Han Kang’s Human Acts hits the bookshelves in the UK just as The Vegetarian starts to make waves in the US. The latter book has already made its mark in the UK, making … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Noh Suntag at 43 Inverness Street and Fitzrovia Gallery
In his written introduction to the two parallel exhibitions at 43 Inverness Street and the Fitzrovia Gallery, Noh Suntag says “I am exploring how the Korean War lives and breathes in contemporary Korean society. I glare at the space where divided powers manipulate the war and division at will, treating them as a chapter of … [Read More]
Call for Papers: 2016 Korean Screen Culture Conference
After a year in Copenhagen the annual conference on Korean Screen Culture will be in King’s London this year. The Call for Papers was recently issued: Call for Papers: The 5th Conference on Korean Screen Culture Department of Film Studies King’s College London, UK June 3rd-4th 2016 Following successful conferences on Korean Screen Culture held … [Read More]
Comfort Women deal protested at Ban Ki-moon speech
The Justice for ‘Comfort Women’ UK group held a quiet protest outside Westminster Central Hall yesterday as people filed in to listen to a talk by Ban Ki-moon. The dignified campaign continued inside: as Ban got up to speak, a protestor held up a sign demanding that the intergovernmental “deal” be annulled. Ban’s speech was targeted … [Read More]
“How Korea became fashion’s new fraternity”
Tonight’s Evening Standard page 27. I know I’m going to sound my age here but anyway… Dara from 2NE1 (right) looks fine. But would any of you turn up to an event dressed like G-Dragon (Big Bang) or CL (2NE1)? If anyone’s interested in reading it, it’s a brief puff piece on how Koreans are … [Read More]
February events 2016
February seems to be the month of artist talks, among other things: Exhibitions and artist talks Dialogues of Space closes at the KCC on 6 Feb, and artist Onejoon Che has a talk on 2 Feb. Noh Suntag has two parallel solo shows at 43 Inverness Street (all month) and Fitzrovia Gallery (closing 26 Feb), … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: a brief walk round London Art Fair 2016
No matter how well you prepare yourself for an art fair, you are bound to be caught unawares as you follow your planned route from stall to stall. In our visit of course we focused on Skipwiths, Shine and Hanmi, but elsewhere we came across the established photographer Boomoon showing at Flowers Gallery, and emerging … [Read More]
Deborah Smith wins Literary Translation award.
Han Kang says she’s “amazing”. Deborah Levy says she’s “obviously a genius”. And now, congratulations to Deborah Smith for winning The Arts Foundation Literary Translation Award 2016. According to the TLS blog, the award comes with a £10,000 bursary which Deborah plans to use “to fund research into the Korean author Yi Chong-jun” (Your Paradise, … [Read More]