Statements published jointly today by the Japanese and South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs aim to bring closure to the issue of wartime sexual slavery. The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan also published a statement on the inter-governmental announcements, which says that the issue is by no means … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 56)
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. Once again thanks are due to Jieun Kim aka The Drawing Hand for the London Korean Christmas design. Jieun responded wonderfully to my slightly crazy brief: to combine the River Thames with a traditional 일월오봉도 … [Read More]
Roger Law’s Art and Seoul on Radio 4 this week
A couple of months ago I spent an hour in a BBC studio with ceramic artist Roger Law (whom many UK readers will remember as one half of the Spitting Image team). The subject – Korea. Roger Law had already done a well-received quirky radio series on China and this was to be his Korean … [Read More]
The growing interest in Dansaekhwa
The Nation has an interesting piece by Barry Schwabsky on the recent growth in interest in Dansaekhwa in the States, pointing out that during November New York simultaneously hosted three solo shows by major artists: Chung Chang-sup at Gallerie Perrotin (3 Nov – 23 Dec) Yun Hyong-keun at Blum & Poe (30 Oct – 23 Dec) Ha Chong-hyun … [Read More]
Seoul and London forge friendly-city ties
A press release just published by the Seoul Metropolitan Government: Seoul and London forge friendly-city ties SEOUL, 18 December 2015: Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) has recently forged closer inter-city ties with London, the city known as a global center of diverse sectors, including art, economy, finance, fashion, medical services, tourism, and transportation. Seoul Mayor Park … [Read More]
Film review: Perfect Proposal
Ji-yeon, a penniless bar girl in Macao in debt to some loan sharks is given the opportunity of a new life if she manages to get a super-rich tycoon to marry her. In league with the tycoon’s estranged son, it seems that with her natural charms and honesty she will win the cantankerous and eccentric … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Sora Kim’s 2,3 at the KCC
Sora Kim’s 2,3 is her first solo show in London, put together as part of the second outing of the KCCUK’s Artist of the Year programme whose objective is to “introduce aspects of Korea’s vibrant art scene to a UK audience.” The exhibition is an interesting concept in which none of the individual works presented … [Read More]
Film Review: Wonderful Nightmare
Owing to an administrative cock-up at the Pearly Gates, rich, single, hard-nosed, man-hating lawyer Lee Yeon-woo, whose main client is an evil construction company, meets an early death. She is given a chance to resume her life, but only on condition that she first, for one month only, lives the life of a mother-of-two married … [Read More]
Caught on the plane: Twenty and Memories of the Sword (with Alice in Earnestland)
I always look forward to long-haul flights as an opportunity to catch up on all the movies I should have been watching over the past year. And having just returned from an ultra-long-haul holiday, I can heartily recommend Singapore Airlines in-flight entertainment. My only complaint is that there was too much to watch: if the … [Read More]
Book review: Kim Namcheon – Scenes from the Enlightenment
Kim Namcheon — Scenes from the Enlightenment Translated by Charles La Shure Dalkey Archive, 2014, 254pp orignally published as 대하, Inmunsa 1939. A brief review, because this is a book I never finished. The blurb on the back of the book sums the contents up well: An account of seemingly trivial events – a wedding … [Read More]
Brother Anthony awarded honorary MBE
Congratulations to Brother Anthony of Taizé for his honorary MBE, awarded by ambassador Charles Hay on 2 December at the ambassador’s residence in Seoul. The official citation reads as follows… Brother Seon Jae AN For services to the Royal Asiatic Society and to furthering the study of English Literature in Korea. …but equally we all … [Read More]
Book review: Hwang Sok-yong — Princess Bari
Hwang Sok-yong: Prices Bari Periscope, 2015, 240pp Translated by Sora Kim-Russell Originally published as 바리데기, 2007 Princess Bari is Hwang Sok-yong’s fourth full-length novel to be translated into English. It is also the most recent, having been originally published in 2007. And for a British audience it is one of the most immediately accessible, being … [Read More]
Book Review: Cho Chongnae — How in Heaven’s Name
Cho Chongnae: How in Heaven’s Name Translated by Bruce and Ju-chan Fulton Merwin Asia, 2012, 141 pages. Originally published as 오 하느님 (O God) and renamed 사람의 탈 (Human Mask) How in Heaven’s Name is an appropriate title for the mind-boggling story of how a group of Korean country lads came to be fighting in … [Read More]
Korean Women on screen, between the covers
As many readers might know, I recently gave a talk at the British Korean Women’s Society on a pretty risky topic: I was asked to give a Western male’s perspective on Korean women. I decided to play it relatively safe, and discuss the topic through the lens of Korean novels, films and artworks that are accessible … [Read More]
December events 2015
Screenings The last of this year’s TV drama screenings at the KCC also has a panel talk, 3 Dec. Yu Hyun-mok’s Guests of the Last Train screens at RCA Battersea on 8 December Exhibitions Sora Kim’s exhibition at the KCC closes on 4 December Hyun Jeung’s solo show, Beauté Anonyme, is at Mokspace, 4 – … [Read More]
Book Review: Ahn Do-hyun — The Salmon Who Dared to Leap Higher
Ahn Do-hyun: The Salmon Who Dared to Leap Higher Panmacmillan 2015, 122pp Translated by Deborah Smith Originally published as 연어, Munhakdongne, 1996. Ahn Do-hyun is a bestselling poet and this is his first novel to be translated into English. The English title for this translation is an interesting one – clearly echoing the English title … [Read More]