London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Aashish Gadhvi assesses Korea’s poor performance against Croatia with the help of Ki Sung-yueng

South Korea were back in rainy old London Town to have their now annual friendly against Croatia at Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham FC. After previous visits to London to play Greece, Serbia and Ivory Coast, Korea has now made London a decent stop in their international calendar. Although some cynics would see these … [Read More]

Korea v Croatia – the live tweets

The as-it-happened commentary on South Korea’s defeat at the hands of Croatia, live on Twitter (Craven Cottage wi-fi permitting)… 2:09pm #koreaVcroatia kicks off… Come on Korea! 2:11pm A rainy but lively Craven Cottage: 2:14pm Son Heung min with a wide long shot which makes the crowd go wild! 2:14pm A narrow misses header from Ivica … [Read More]

The Legend of Lee Young-pyo

Aashish Gadhvi waves a final goodbye to Lee Young-pyo This Asian Cup tournament has seen the retirement of two of South Korea’s greatest ever footballers from the international game. Lee Young-pyo and Park Ji-sung have both decided to call it a day and hang up their boots for their country. No country could ask for … [Read More]

Asian Cup 2011: A Bittersweet Life – Part 2

Aashish Gadhvi sees history repeat itself in Qatar. My very first article for LKL was on the 2007 Asian Cup, a tournament in which South Korea were looking to break the long drought of not winning the tournament but were knocked out in heart-breaking fashion by the eventual winners: on penalties. Well here I am … [Read More]

Ki Sung-yueng and Racism in the British Game

A few weeks ago I was interviewed by a young talented Korea photographer – Daewoong Kim, studying here in London. Daewoong, being interested in photography and football wanted to discuss my experiences interviewing Korean footballers and working within BBC Sport. Needless to say this is the first (and probably last!) time I have been interviewed, … [Read More]

Celtic v Arsenal: interview with Ki Sung-yueng

Aashish Gadhvi is amassing an impressive collection of exclusive interviews with South Korea’s best footballers. He caught up with Ki Sung-yueng after scoring for Celtic against Arsenal in the Emirates Cup on 1 August 2010. Ki is on fine form: excellent English, and relaxed and informative. In fact he interviews much better than many English … [Read More]

Asian Dawn!

Aashish Gadhvi reviews the rollercoaster World Cup campaigns from the Asian sides. Before the World Cup started I pictured myself sitting in front of a typewriter like Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote penning conspiracy theories and plans of deception at how South Korea were knocked out of the group stage yet again by the … [Read More]

Kim Yu-na: Queen of the Ice!

Aashish Gadhvi reviews the figure skating juggernaut that is Kim Yu-na At the recent South Korea v Ivory Coast match I managed to speak to many Korean journalists from television and from print media. Many of the journalists there only seem to have one thing to talk about. No, it wasn’t Park Ji-sung or Lee … [Read More]

S Korea v Ivory Coast: interviews with Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo

Aashish Gadhvi managed to interview two key members of the South Korean world cup squad after the match with Ivory Coast last week. First, Lee Young-pyo, formerly of Tottenham Hotspur. Next, probably Korea’s best known player, Park Ji-sung. No subtitles this time: both interviews are in English. This wraps up LKL’s coverage of the South … [Read More]