This somaek tower (and others like it) is probably why my brain isn’t functioning too well today. On the Bab in Covent Garden provide you with these fiendish devices, loaded with ready-mixed poktanju (in unknown proportions), as an easy way to get the booze into you as fast as you like. Great with their sliders … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 62)
Korea Post honours the Glosters
Lt Col James Power Carne of the Gloucestershire Regiment appears on a new Korean postage stamp, part of a set of ten issued to mark the 65th anniversary of the start of the war. The BBC regional website for Gloucestershire has the full story. [Read More]
July events 2015
Books, talks and discussion Hyeonseo Lee has three separate events to launch her memoir, on 1, 2 and 3 July. You may have come across a trail or two in the Guardian and the Times. Ambassadors Hay and and Gifford update the British Korean Society on the UK-Korea relationship on 6 July Ko Un appears with … [Read More]
Shin Kyung-sook seeks to withdraw short story
Wow – this all happened very quickly. On 17 June author Lee Eung-jun wrote an article in Huffington Post Korea (in Korean) accusing Shin Kyung-sook of plagiarism: Shin is “an author whose works are often accused of plagiarism” and that he decided to risk his career by publishing the article as he wanted the allegations … [Read More]
Jongmin Park wins Song prize in Cardiff Singer of the World
Congratulations to Jongmin Park for winning the Song Prize in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015. The competition ran from 14 to 21 June. Park wins prize money of £7,500. The main prize (and £15,000) was won by Nadine Koutcher from Belarus. Of the twenty competitors, three were from South Korea. Two of … [Read More]
Sheffield conference report – Comfort Women: Listening To Their Voices
Short of bringing some of the surviving halmonis to the UK in person, it is difficult to imagine how the organisers of this weekend’s gathering in Sheffield could have assembled a better line-up of people to discuss the Comfort Women issue. We had Byun Young-joo, director of the trilogy of documentaries focusing on the Korean … [Read More]
Kim Sungjoo awarded honorary OBE
The British Embassy in Seoul announced yesterday that Kim Sungjoo, best known in the UK for her MCM fashion brand, has been awarded an honorary OBE. In Korea, her company owns the Marks and Spencer franchise. According to the press release, She has been an energetic and generous supporter of many British institutions and organisations … [Read More]
Photos: Daegu Hyangje Julpungyu Preservation Group at the KCCUK
We didn’t manage to make it to their performance with the Thames Philharmonia on Saturday 13 June, but we just managed to arrive in time for their solo performance at the KCC the day before. Here are some photos of the elegant performance of the Daegu Hyangje Julpungyu Preservation Group. [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 11: a visit to Studio MWP
A behind-the-scenes glimpse inside Studio Meditation with a Pencil, home of Green Days and This Road Called Life. Director Ahn Jae-huun shares insights on upcoming projects, including A Thousand Years Together and short story adaptations Shower and The Shaman Sorceress, while visitors discover the charming, pencil-filled world where Korean animation comes to life. [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 10: Namhansanseong and the Gangnam Tombs
Myeongdong, Seoul, Sunday 7 June The Mountain Fortress I am scheduled to meet a friend at 9:30 at Sanseong Station on Line 8. From there we take the bus (number 9) via a circuitous route through a residential area and up the steep hill to the main car park of one of Korea’s latest UNESCO … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 9: Yeongsanjae and Seodaemun
Myeongdong, Seoul, Saturday 6 June Bongwonsa temple and the Yeongsanjae rituals Today is the second UNESCO-listed item of intangible cultural heritage of my brief stay. I am tagging along with a small group of American summer students who are getting course credits by having a whale of a time in Seoul. How this works from an … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 8: Back to school, back to Seoul
Sancheong-gun, Friday 5 June Today I am due to say farewell to Sancheong again, but before I leave there is a treat in store: a school visit. Mr Yoon’s wife happens to teach in a primary school in Dangye Village, and she thought it might be nice for her pupils to meet a foreigner. And … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 7: A King, two generals and a gisaeng
Sancheong-gun, Thursday 4 June Having over-indulged the previous evening, I didn’t sleep well. Although I had set the alarm to wake me up for my early morning hike, I didn’t really need it. I get up at 6am, and Kyung-sook emerges from the other room soon afterwards. We are shortly on our way along the … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 6: return to Sancheong
Seomyeon, Busan, Wednesday 3 June Min arrives at the hotel as agreed at 9:30 and we drive to the Centum City area for a late breakfast. The venue is Yangsan Gukbap, and as with many Korean restaurants the clue to the menu is in the name of the establishment, which is open 24 hours a … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 5: The UN Memorial Cemetery and the start of the MERS scare
Gangneung, Tuesday 2 June. Today promises to be a relatively low-key affair. As promised, Eun-jin arrives at the hotel at 8:50 to take me to the bus station, and I buy my ticket for the 9:30 to Busan, boarding a coach with maybe a dozen people on it, including a sailor in a smart white … [Read More]
2015 Travel Diary day 4: the Danoje rituals on Daegwallyeong ridge
Gangneung, Monday 1 June. I turn up at the Chilsadang, Gangneung’s elegant Joseon dynasty town hall building, at 8:30, backpack stuffed with camera equipment, bottled water and snacks to see me through the day. Ten days earlier at the same spot there had been a ceremony which launches the whole Dano month: a ritual called … [Read More]