Hannah Michell: The Defections Quercus, 2014, 336pp THE BRITISH EMBASSY, SEOUL STAFF RECORD NAME: Kim, Mia D.O.B: 27/10/1979 POSITION: Translator REPORTS TO: Dalton-Ellis, Thomas NATIONALITY: Korean ETHNICITY: Mixed – Korean/British BACKGROUND NOTES: Born, was educated and lives in Seoul. Family – father, disabled – stepmother, seamstress – mother, English, unknown – uncle, runs school for … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 83)
Jang Eun-jin: No One Writes Back. Just read it. You won’t regret it.
Jang Eun-jin: No One Writes Back First published in Korea as 아무도 편지하지 않다 by Munhak Tongne, Paju, 2009 This edition Dalkey Archive 2013 Translated by Jung Yewon I can’t remember having cried at the end of a novel before, particularly one in which nothing much happens. No One Writes Back is a beautiful gem … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Behind the Camera — the Q&A of the feature of the documentary of the making of the …
British cinema-goers are used to a short commercial before the main feature in which a film director is pitching his latest movie idea to some corporate suits whose only interest is that the film should promote a certain mobile phone network at every opportunity. So it’s not such a strange idea that a well-known Korean … [Read More]
The official announcement of Jang Song-thaek’s execution
From the KCNA’s English-language website run from Japan. Among his crimes: Half-heartedly clapping when Kim 3 was appointed vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea projecting himself internally and externally as a special being on a par with the headquarters of the revolution Preventing a tile factory from erecting a … [Read More]
Brief film review: Hope / Wish (Lee Joon-ik, 2013)
One of the more anticipated films of the 2013 London Korean Film Festival was Lee Joon-ik’s Hope, a harrowing family drama examining the long-term effects caused by the traumatic sexual assault on a young girl by a construction worker near her school. It’s a powerful film which one won’t watch for pleasure, or indeed watch … [Read More]
Kimjang gets a UNESCO listing
Kimjang, the making and sharing of kimchi in the Republic of Korea, was admitted to the UNESCO register of intangible cultural heritage on 5 December 2013. Note that, like the listing of Arirang, this pan-Korean cultural item has been registered by South Korea. Links: Kimjang page at UNESCO Update 13 December: The South China Morning … [Read More]
Official announcement of Jang Song-thaek’s arrest
Here is the formal announcement of Jang Song-thaek’s arrest, from the KCNA Japanese website. A lesson for anyone who might dare to dream different dreams or eat in a restaurant’s private dining room. Report on Enlarged Meeting of Political Bureau of Central Committee of WPK Pyongyang, December 9 (KCNA) — A report on the enlarged … [Read More]
Cha’s portrait remains in fragments
What is one supposed to do when a scary woman in a white hoody comes up to you and declaims an impenetrable text at you in a threatening manner? Well, what we all did at the opening evening of the group show at the KCC which pays tribute to the artist Teresa Hak Kyung Cha, … [Read More]
In a bookshop yesterday…
No, this is not *my* bookshelf (it’s part of the Korean section at the university bookshop yesterday), though I do have a couple of these. I don’t have the yellow one, and don’t propose buying it. But I really recommend Sonia Ryang’s Reading North Korea – a look at how North Korea’s relationship with the … [Read More]
The tweet that launched a podcast
I was watching Nobody’s Daughter Haewon as part of the BFI London Film Festival this year, and was rather enjoying it. I’ve done a little review of it here. It was nice to see some familiar locations in the film. And then I saw something even more familiar: one of the characters in the film … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Nobody’s Daughter Haewon
I often find myself falling asleep during Hong Sang Soo films. But my two most recent experiences – a second viewing of HaHaHa as part of the KCC’s Moon So-ri season – and Nobody’s Daughter Haewon at the ICA, coinciding with its screening at the 57th BFI London Film Festival, have been exceptions. Part of … [Read More]
A reason to go to Gangnam?
LKL has never been a particular fan of South of the Han. Most things we want to do and see tend to be North of the river. But like it or not, it’s where the money is. Reflecting the opulent demographic, in September this year Diageo opened Johnnie Walker House Seoul in Cheongdam-dong, its third … [Read More]
Art14 London announces participating galleries
Art13 London, held at the beginning of March this year, was a feast of contemporary art which needed at least half a day to enjoy the Korean artists alone, forgetting about everything else. Looking forward to next year, Art14 has announced the participating galleries for the second incarnation of London’s latest art fair. Here are … [Read More]
CFP for South Korean Screen Culture Conference 2014
In 2014 the “Years of Radical Change” Korean Screen Culture Conference moves to Sheffield, after two successful years at SOAS. The Call for Papers has just been issued. CFP for South Korean Screen Culture Conference 2014 Friday 13 – Saturday 14 June 2014 Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom Call for presentations: The Korean Screen … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Night Break, at Mokspace
Night Break, the current show at Mokspace, compares two Korean photographers who work at night. One of Kim Shin-wook’s ghostly tree pictures, in which the tree is picked out in foreground brightness against a dark background, won him an award at this year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. At Mokspace we are able to see a … [Read More]