London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Dr James Kim of PUST – talks in London, Oxford and Cambridge

Dr. James Kim is a Korean-American businessman and the founder of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), the first privately funded university in the DPRK. With its international faculty, courses in English, computers, and internet connections for all its students, the one-year-old university represents a rare window onto the world for the North Korean … [Read More]

Introducing the P’yongyang project at SOAS

News of a lunchtime talk at SOAS this Thursday: Introducing the P’yongyang project Date: Thursday 16th February 2012 Time: 12:30 – 2:00 PM Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings Room: G2 The P’yongyang Project, founded in April 2009, is a non-profit academic project that pioneers a grassroots and humanistic approach to engaging the Democratic People’s Republic … [Read More]

Archaeology study day in Cambridge

An interesting half day this Saturday, 4 February: Study Day on the Archaeology of Early States on the Korean Peninsula AT THE McDONALD INSTITUTE FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE SATURDAY 4TH FEBRUARY 2012 Organised by Professor Kim Jong-Il (Seoul National University and Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge) and Dr Simon Kaner (Sainsbury Institute … [Read More]

A look back at 2011 – part 2

In the second of our articles we look at stories relating to Sports, Tourism, and national branding and marketing. And K-pop and celebrities are never far away when talking of Brand Korea. Sports and Tourism Jeju was provisionally listed as one of the worlds New 7 Wonders, after a multi-month international marketing campaign. Celebrities ranging … [Read More]

North Korea’s nuclear threat and the upcoming Seoul Nuclear Security Summit

In March 2012, South Korea will be hosting the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit. Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, will introduce some of the issues at December’s Global Korea Lecture at the KCC. Pre-registration necessary. North Korea’s nuclear threat and the upcoming Seoul Nuclear Security … [Read More]

The depiction of famine in North Korean comics

A reminder of this Friday’s talk at SOAS: A New Deal: comic story representations of food issues in post-famine North Korea Speaker: Martin Petersen (University of Copenhagen) Date: 25 November 2011, 5:00 – 7:00 PM Venue: Russell Square, College Building, Room G50 Abstract In the mid to late 1990s North Korea went through a famine … [Read More]

Two Koreas: Past, Present and Future – at LSE

Looks like an interesting conference at the London School of Economics. Unfortunately, it’s the same day as another interesting conference organised by BAKS (26 Nov). On 26th November 2011, LSESU Korean Society is proud to present the first student-run Korean Economic and Political Forum: “Two Koreas: Past, Present and Future”. The forum will be divided … [Read More]

Minhwa – Case Study of Joseon Chaekkado / Chaekkori

A reminder of the SOAS seminar on Friday: should be a good one – Dr Youngsook Pak on Chaekkori http://t.co/Hf2hfXvi Time: 17.00-19.00, 18 November 2011 Title: Folk Painting (Minhwa) – Case Study of Joseon Chaekkado / Chaekkori Speaker: Youngsook Pak Venue: Room G50, Ground floor, SOAS, Russell Square Abstract A screen depicting bookshelves (ch’aekkado or … [Read More]

When “going to the valleys” is not a good idea

Many languages have all sorts of euphemisms for death. “He’s gone to meet his maker”, “He’s pushing up the daisies” are a couple of the expressions in English. In Korean, there’s the picturesque phrase “He’s gone to the valleys.” The valleys in question are in the Jirisan region of South Gyeongsang province. Jirisan has always … [Read More]

Autumn term seminars at SOAS

Here are the initial details of the Autumn evening seminars at SOAS. The talks are free and open to all. Date: Tuesday, 11 October 2011 Time: 17.00-19.00 Title: Maritime Customs and Chinese Imperialism in the 1880s: A New Look at Korea’s ‘Chinese Decade.’ Speaker: Professor Wayne Patterson (St Norbert College, Wisconsin) Venue: Room T102, Faber … [Read More]