Ahn Jung-hyo: White Badge Soho Press, NY, 1989, 337pp Originally published as 하얀전쟁, 1983 Translated by the author If I saw Jeong Ji-young’s White Badge (1992) when it screened in London eight years ago, I do not remember it. I cannot imagine having a similar lapse of memory concerning Ahn Jung-hyo’s Vietnam war novel on … [Read More]
Category: Korea in South-East Asia
North Korea’s silkworm technology
Bored with shelling South Korean islands, North Korea looks to invest in Vietnamese silk. FT blogs: http://bit.ly/dQwPzB # North Korea’s contribution to any silk venture will be its “silkworm expertise and technology”, Vietnam would, in exchange, provide labour and investment in production facilities. [Read More]
A little corner of Korea in India
In the tiny state of Manipur NE India, separatists have banned Bollywood films. Korean film is all the rage, as is TV drama, and even hairstyles. BBC video. http://bbc.in/atIjfJ # [Read More]
Economic growth the priority for Korea in Laos
Even for those familiar with the world of development aid, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) – the Korean government overseas aid organisation – may be a bit of an unknown entity. Arguably lacking the stature of a USAID or the pedigree of a DfID, KOICA has had to build its reputation from scratch in recent … [Read More]
Whose generation? The hallyu in South-East Asia
Darren Southcott finds the Korean Wave alive and kicking in South-East Asia Had I heard of the Korean Wave, or Hallyu, while I was in the UK I would probably have assumed it was an Asian take on a Central American football terrace tradition. The closest I ever came to being subsumed by it was … [Read More]
The attractions of North Korean restaurants
If ever you're on holiday in Cambodia this looks like the restaurant to visit. A North Korean noodle restaurant known for its beautiful waitresses – including the “North Korean Kim Tae-hee:” http://bit.ly/bHmvzR # …but if you work in South Korea you haven't got long to get there: an average of only 4.1 days for your … [Read More]
White Badge: Korea and the Vietnamese War
In a year that we remember the 60th anniversary of the first post-WW2 US military involvement in Asia, it was a great idea to invite Director Jeong Ji-yeong (정지영) to the UK. Jeong is known for a number of well-received films, including Nambugun, a film which gives a nuanced view of the Korean War from … [Read More]
A view of Korea from Bangladesh
Peter Corbishley has just returned from a trip to Dhaka, Bangladesh, where the Koreans are also active. In 2009 South Korea is putting some $320m investment into the Bangladeshi economy and nearly 160 companies are working there, including a third of all companies operating in the export processing zones. In addition in 2006, for example, … [Read More]
“Asia! Asia!” – Stephen Epstein at SOAS
Stephen Epstein had a busy week last week giving lectures in Cambridge, Oxford and London. He is on a lecture tour of Europe, using the trip as an opportunity to test various chapters from his forthcoming book with a critical audience. Friday’s lecture at SOAS focused on the portrayal of some of Korea’s Asian neighbours … [Read More]
Saemaeul Movement Goes International
I’m in the middle of reading Mark Clifford’s book Troubled Tiger, a history of the Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan era focusing on the connectedness between businessmen, generals and politicians. A brief review will be coming soon (here). While much of the growth-driven development was geared towards heavy industry and the export market, there was … [Read More]