There’s fascinating insight into North Korean children’s literature by Christopher Richardson over on SinoNK. Do give the article a read. And then try Sonia Ryang’s excellent Reading North Korea which looks at adult literature and film in North Korea. That’s a book I’ve now read three times in the hope that I’ll get around to … [Read More]
LKL articles by Philip Gowman (page 85)
The 2014 KCCUK Call for Curators
After the two 2013 exhibitions curated by guest curators, the KCCUK has again issued a call for curators to put on a show in the summer months of 2014. Full details can be found on the KCCUK website. The two exhibitions put on as a result of last year’s Call for Curators were The Hidden … [Read More]
LKFF 2013 – Choices, Choices
The schedule for this year’s London Korean Film Festival seems to be bigger than ever. So many varied themes to satisfy all cinematic tastes; several directors and actors brought to London for interviews and Q&A sessions with the audience; galas, animations, shorts, comedies and much more. With such a feast laid out in front of … [Read More]
November events 2013
Film, Jazz, K-pop, and of course the State Visit this month. State Visit Among the many duties to be performed by President Park on her state visit on 5-6 November will be a ground-breaking ceremony for a new Korean War memorial Coinciding with the State Visit, KOTRA are holding a Korean Branding and Entertainment Expo at … [Read More]
Korean crafts abroad featured in the Korea Times
It’s always nice when things you’ve seen in London get coverage in the English language press back in Korea. In May this year the Korea Craft & Design Foundation brought a number of Korean craftsmen to the Saatchi gallery, including master lacquer craftsman Chung Hae-cho. We heard at the time that the Victoria and Albert … [Read More]
The Guardian hikes the Baekdu-daegan
There’s a nice piece in The Guardian this week about hiking the Baekdu-daegan. The author starts at Cheonwangbong peak, Jirisan, in Sancheong County (Gyeongsangnam-do) and walks north, ending his hike in the Deogyusan national park in Muju County, Jeollabuk-do. Koreans have long believed that a current of life-energy, or gi, runs between [Jirisan in the … [Read More]
Some Quite Interesting Korean folk expressions
The witty comedy quiz show QI is now in its 11th series for the BBC, focusing on Quite Interesting facts connected with things that begin with the letter K. Plenty of scope for things Korean to crop up, then. In the episode that screened on 21 September, a series of Korean folk expressions came up. … [Read More]
RIP Peter Corbishley
Today was the Requiem Mass for Peter Corbishley, who died peacefully on 12 October, aged 67, after a recurrence of throat cancer. Peter was a great friend of Korea – a contributor to LKL, guest member and helper of the Korean Artists Association, and Committee member of the Anglo-Korean Society among other things. He also … [Read More]
“Leafie” author Hwang Sun-mi to feature in London Book Fair
We hear that up to ten Korean authors could be in town for the London Book Fair 2014. And the first name to be confirmed, in a London Book Fair press release issued last week, and reported further in the Korea Times, is Hwang Sun-mi, author of The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, which … [Read More]
A free introduction to Korean traditional and fusion music
If you’re looking to explore Korean music other than K-pop and K-indie, the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS) have the answer for you. They used to produce an annual compilation album of 5CDs featuring the best new recordings. But now they’ve made the CDs easier to access, via an iTunes app. The app, for iPhone … [Read More]
Koh Sang-woo interviewed for Korean Artist Project
One of my favourite contemporary Korean artists, Koh Sang-woo, has a great interview up on the Korea Artist Project website. Koh is represented by James Freeman Gallery in the UK. Links: www.kohsangwoo.com www.koreanartistproject.com www.jamesfreemangallery.com [Read More]
You’ve seen the film, now read the book
The Korean Film Council recently publicised on its website the new “Book to Film” initiative aimed at bringing together the film and the publishing industries. Of course, the practice adapting a book for the big screen is almost as old as the movie industry itself, and some of South Korea’s most successful movies have been … [Read More]
Jo Jin-gyu’s Shaman Gangster / Man on the Edge is great entertainment
I know I’ve been somewhat grouchy about a lot of K-film recently, so let me make amends. What could be better than a hilarious but tearjerking shaman gangster almost-semi-gay rom-com. Man on the Edge (aka Shaman Gangster, 박수건달, Dir Jo Jin-gyu, 2013, starring a brilliant Park Sin-yang as a gangster who discovers he is in … [Read More]
The Unforgiven: a fleetingly interesting but ultimately dull debut for Yoon Jong-bin
The Unforgiven represents two hours of my life that I shall never get back. Two hours, but it felt like more. After an hour I was looking at my watch, wondering where the film was headed. And then, like Achilles and the tortoise, the remaining period of the film was divided in two, and at … [Read More]
Gi: some linguistic trivia
Sancheong, 13 September 2013. Browsing the Donguijeon at the Sancheong international Traditional Medicine Fair & Festival, I learned some mildly interesting linguistic trivia about the word gi. First, some words which use the word gi as a component: 기(氣)분 좋다 Feel good 공기(氣)가 좋다 Get fresh air 기(氣)가 산다 Feel energetic 온기(氣)가 있다 Be warm … [Read More]
October Events 2013
Here are the events for October that we know of so far: Film We move from Choi Min-sik to Ha Jung-woo in the KCC’s year of the four actors. First up is The Unforgiven (Dir Yoon Jong-bin) on 10 October, with an as yet unannounced film on 24 October The 57th BFI London Film Festival … [Read More]