Synopsis: Dong-hyun (Han Suk-gyu), a radio DJ, has recently been dumped by his girlfriend. Lovelorn and scorned his mood is lifted when he receives a copy of a vinyl Velvet Underground LP thinking that it is a gift from his ex. Since it holds a special meaning for his demised relationship, he plays Pale Blue … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 73)
“Jazz” in the DPRK: Autumn Whispers and the forbidden fruit of Richard Clayderman
I’ve just finished reading Jang Jin-sung’s memoir, Dear Leader. It’s a real page-turner that will appeal to many types of readers, including people who like a good adventure story (the passages describing Jang’s evasion of Chinese and North Korean security forces once he has fled from the North Korean capital are genuinely exciting) and of … [Read More]
Brighten up your hangeul typeface
Bored with the default hangeul font on your PC? The Korea Blog has a brief article on hangeul as compared with other scripts, explaining some of the difficulties with hangeul typography. But best of all, they provide a couple of links where you can download hangeul fonts for free: Naver’s Nanum font collection (4 varieties) … [Read More]
Mt Chilbo is the fourth DPRK biosphere reserve
At the 26th meeting of the UNESCO International Coordinating Council of the Man and Biosphere Program on 10-13 June, thirteen new sites were added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Among them was Mt Chilbo (칠보산), in Myongchon County, North Hamgyong Province. This 340 hectare site in the north-east of the country is a … [Read More]
Eating yeot, or not
Ask A Korean has a great post on the reason why a disgruntled fan might want to lob a few toffees at the returning Korean football team. He has a few explanations why “Eat Yeot” is considered an insult. The article prompted an LKL reader to add a different story about eating yeot as a … [Read More]
July events 2014
Here are the events I know of for July. Music and Performance July sees the remainder of the City of London Festival. Highlights are Ensemble Sinawi at LSO St Luke’s on 8 July, followed by a performance / workshop at SOAS on 9 July A Korean Hamlet at the Peacock on 12 July Young Korean … [Read More]
Namhansanseong joins Suwon fortress on UNESCO World Heritage list
South Korea’s eleventh listing on the UNESCO World Heritage list is Namhansanseong. It was added to the list at the end of a 10 day meeting of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee at Doha on 25 June. According to the summary on the UNESCO website: Namhansanseong was designed as an emergency capital for the Joson dynasty … [Read More]
KCC to fund British Museum curator
Interesting that it’s the KCC doing this. Normally I would expect a chaebol or an NGO like the Korea Foundation to fund this sort of post. Anyway, below is the official press release from the British Museum website. This is an additional curatorial post, working under the existing senior curator Sasche Priewe, who will continue … [Read More]
Korea wins Golden Lion in Venice architecture biennale
There have been a lot of Korean Ministry of Culture bigwigs in town this week for the opening of the City of London Festival, in which Korean performers are playing a major part. And many of the officials are going home to Seoul via Venice. Why? Because the Korean Pavilion has been awarded the Golden … [Read More]
The London Korean Novel Club
Many LKL followers will have already heard of the London Korean Novel Club – not to be confused with the monthly Korean Literature Night meetups at the KCC. The London Korean Novel Club was born in part because the KCC-organised literature nights seemed to get booked up so quickly: there’s obviously a market for informal … [Read More]
Killer creativity at the RCA graduate show
A quick tour of the Royal College of Art degree show last weekend showed just how many Korean artists and designers there are in London. I had gone along to see the work of a handful of friends whose work I had got to know through various exhibitions over the past couple of years, and … [Read More]
British Council signs teacher training deal in DPRK
Yesterday the British Council were in Pyongyang signing a letter of understanding on English teaching and teacher training, according to KCNA. The DPRK’s press operation is clearly quick off the mark, as there’s nothing on the British Council website about this yet. To be honest, I’m not sure what’s new here, as the British Council … [Read More]
Tracey Emin name-checks Paul Lee’s work in Summer Exhibition review
Congratulations to Korean artist Paul Lee – not only did he get work accepted into this year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, but one of his pieces got name-checked by Tracey Emin in her review of the show. Click on the image below to go to the BBC website where you can watch the 4’42” video … [Read More]
In pictures: Kim Hayoung’s degree show
Kim Hayoung’s work grows on me each time I see it. And while I enjoy seeing work exhibited in a domestic setting (such as 43 Inverness Street, where Kim has had two solo shows already), it was also good to see it in a huge, well-lit exhibition space. The big work painted in acrylic on … [Read More]
The dumbing down of the KTO?
Hmmm. Gone is the 기, 흥 and 정 of Lee Charm. Instead, are we to get an emphasis on K-pop at the expense of the more traditional things? Two quotes from an interview with Byun Choo-suk, the new KTO president, in the Korea Herald: “The royal guard changing ceremony at palaces in Seoul, traditional mask … [Read More]
Call for Papers – BAKS Conference 2014
The CFP for the 2014 BAKS conference: Korean Identities in a Global Age Call for Papers for a Conference, 21-23 November 2014 British Association of Korean Studies (to be convened at the University of Sheffield) From the birth of modern Korea, the Korean people have been prominently entwined with and influential upon global events, but … [Read More]