The greenhouse is an ancient invention, dating back 2,200 years. Modern ‘active’ greenhouses are distinguished from older ‘passive’ ones by the fact that they allow for the adjustment of air and soil temperature. Previously, the first such greenhouses were believed to have been built in Germany in 1619, using a stove to regulate air temperature, … [Read More]
LKL articles by Matthew Jackson
Korea – The Antifragile Kingdom
Editor’s note: every now and then Matthew Jackson submits a cracking article from out of nowhere. Here’s one such article which, if I may paraphrase, wonders whether maybe han is healthy. I hope it’s not too long before the next one! The author and philosopher Nicholas Nassim Taleb (of ‘Black Swan’ fame) developed a concept … [Read More]
Historical feature: Sejong of Korea – The Philosopher King
“There will be no end to the troubles of the state or indeed of humanity until philosophers become kings or until those we now call kings really and truly become philosophers.” This is one of the most famous quotations from Plato. It is taken from his work The Republic, which in attempting to set out … [Read More]
The World’s First Referendum – and its aftermath
Korea is a country of hidden wonders. These wonders, which have remained hidden in some cases for centuries, are continually being unearthed. Many have something to teach us about the world we live in today. The Sillok – royal annals that documented every day of the Joseon dynasty for the five centuries it governed Korea … [Read More]
The Confused Westerner’s Response to K-Pop
Have you read the Wikipedia article on K-pop? It’s really, really long. Seriously, I did not know most of that stuff. When you next have a sufficiently large mug of tea, I highly recommend giving it a read. Changing tack, did you see the article on Yahoo about K-pop? It’s shorter, and chimes with a … [Read More]
UK-Korea Relations – A Talk by Thomas Harris KBE
The talk on UK-Korea relations by Sir Thomas Harris KBE CMG, held at Gresham College on Friday 27th of June, was both a stimulating and ultimately uplifting account of the diplomatic and economic interactions between the two countries before and after the Korean War. Amongst his various international posts as a businessman and diplomat, Sir … [Read More]
Korean Naval Firepower Part 2 – Koryo and Columbus
Choe Museon was not the inventor of heavy artillery, although he made many innovative variations of the concept. Why did other countries not simply take their cannons and heavy firearms with them on board their ships? The problem with a wooden ship is, if its displacement is sufficiently small, the recoil of a heavy weapon … [Read More]
Concert Notes: All Eyes on Baramgot at the Purcell Room
I had expected the five-piece ensemble Baramgot (바람곶) to provide a solid evening of traditionally folk-inspired Korean music. Having attended a number of traditional Korean music performances before, I had a fairly clear idea of what I was in for, and I was looking forward to it. The 75 minute programme consisted of seven items, … [Read More]
K-pop Academy – The Curtain Falls…A New Era Begins?
26th of May marked the closing of the 1st K-Pop Academy, a 12-week course run by the Korean Cultural Centre for thirty K-pop fans who applied to learn more about the country and its culture. Witnessing the course unfold over the last 12 weeks, the enthusiasm of the students themselves, combined with the dedication of … [Read More]
Korean Naval Firepower Part 1 – When Wako Attack
The Battle of Lepanto, wherein the allied forces of Venice, Genoa, and Spain overcame the Turks by means of a superior number of cannons, was a turning point in naval history in the West. Dominance of the sea enabled countries such as the Netherlands and England to play a dominant role in world affairs. The … [Read More]
Reading the Heavens Part 3 – The Astronomical Legacy of King Sejong
As mentioned in part 1, King Sejong presided over the zenith of Korean astronomical achievement. The construction of a large observatory at Gyeongbok Palace in 1438 – later destroyed without a trace in the Japanese invasion – played a key role in the country’s progress. On the roof were installed various astronomical instruments such as … [Read More]
Reading the Heavens Part 2 – World’s First Complete Star Map
Koguryo generally has the tag of a warlike kingdom, and I always assumed that it was the least culturally developed of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Amongst other things, however, it was responsible for the world’s earliest complete map of the stars. This planispheric star map is believed to have been produced in 1395, the … [Read More]
Reading the Heavens Part 1 – Two Millennia of Astronomy in Korea
To celebrate star-crossed lovers everywhere, Matthew Jackson starts a series of articles on Korean astronomy As we can tell from ancient monuments like the Dolmen stones and more recent buildings such as Cheomseongdae, astronomy was big in Korea. Why was this exactly? Reverence for nature was part of it, but it was in fact more … [Read More]
Festival Film Review: Blood, Sweat, Tears and Laughter – ‘Yellow Sea’ has it all
While on a visit to Korea, I once asked a wise, old-looking Korean how he would describe the spirit of the Korean people. My friend who was interpreting answered the question instead, to my initial annoyance, giving the answer ‘Fun’, which I found doubly disappointing given its apparent banality. Several years on, I am beginning … [Read More]
‘War of the Arrows’ – Causing Death and Saving Lives
The opening gala of the London Korean Film Festival was a more rambunctious affair than I remember even last year’s being, due in no small part to the sudden and unexpected entrance of SHINee (I was lucky enough to be two rows behind them, but many who had specially booked seats I gather were incandescent … [Read More]
Buddha’s Voice – The Bell of King Seongdeok
People sometimes take a jaundiced view of Korea’s estimation of the importance of its cultural heritage. In the case of the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok, however, it was foreigner, Dr. Otto Kummel, a director at the National Museum of Germany, who suggested that the museum’s description of the bell as ‘the best in Korea’, … [Read More]