London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Traditional Korean Theatre

From the publisher’s website: A translation of the contents of the manual used for the masked dance of Korea. Readers will delight in the wit and liveliness of these dramas that depict human errors as well as the redeeming virtues of social bonds. “…a pioneering collection of Korean mask-dance and puppet plays… a fine introduction … [Read More]

Slow Chrysanthemums: Classical Korean Poems in Chinese

Kim Jong-gil’s personal anthology of one hundred Korean poems written in Chinese covers a period of over a thousand years, from the late ninth century to the beginning of the twentieth. In his introduction to this fascinating poetry, Kim Jong-gil traces the background to the literary use of Chinese in Korea, and discusses the features … [Read More]

Iyo Island

Based on an old Jeju legend seafarers’ story of a utopian island the lies just out of sight of Jeju. The story is about many things, including the loss of childhood dreams, the need to endure, and the futility of war. Source: Charles Montgomery’s review [Read More]

Love’s Silence and Other Poems

Yong-un Han (1879-1944) is recognised as Korea’s finest Buddhist poet of the twentieth century and also one of the country’s most influential political activists in the struggle against Japanese imperialism. Yong-un Han’s Buddhist insights and political passion combine to give his poetry great spiritual power. He describes the complexities of love as beginning in the … [Read More]

The Good People: Korean Stories

Contains the following stories: Nami and the taffyman The woman from Hwasan Uncle Seaside village A death at the mill Spring’s awakening Migratory birds The girl from an island Wine Afterglow [Read More]

Postwar Korean Short Stories: An Anthology

Originally published by Seoul National University Press in 1974 Includes the following stories Kim Dong-ni: Father and son Oh Sang-won: A respite Chang Yong-hak: Poems of John the Baptist Son Chang-sop: Walking in the snow Sŏnu Hŭi: One way Sŏ Ki-wŏn: The uncharted map Pak Yong-jun: The last parting Hwang Sun-won: Time for You and … [Read More]