London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Discussion: The South Korean class struggle

As a conservative prepares to take over in Seoul, in London a Marxist provides some commentary on the class struggle in South Korea. At the slightly anti-social time of 6pm on Saturday evening at Housman’s bookshop near Kings Cross, Loren Goldner will speak as follows: From Mass Strike to Casualization and Retreat: The Korean Working … [Read More]

North Korea – New Approaches

Received from Chatham House: North Korea: NEW APPROACHES The 8th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights & Refugees January 22, 2008 – London, UK Venue: Chatham House — The Royal Institute of International Affairs 10 St James’s Square, London SW1Y4LE AGENDA Language of proceedings: Korean/English Tuesday, 22 January, 2008 09:00 Registration (Chatham House, 10 … [Read More]

Spring term SOAS free seminars

The event schedule for the SOAS Centre of Korean Studies has just been announced for the current term Fridays, 5pm Room G52, Ground Floor, Main Building SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG (except where otherwise stated) For further details contact: Rahima Begum (rb41 AT soas DOT ac DOT uk) All Welcome These Seminars … [Read More]

LKL 2007 Quiz of the Year – the answers

Question 1: Corporate crooks and corruption Match the alleged quote with the appropriate chaebol The conglomorate had run a vast network that bribed government officials, prosecutors, tax collectors, journalists and scholars I don’t want to take a gamble on causing a crisis in the country’s economy The sentence of one year and six months is … [Read More]

Study Korean and Japanese Art at SOAS

A great opportunity to find out more about Korean art: study towards a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art. Study Korean and Japanese Art at SOAS — April — July 2008 The former British Museum postgraduate diploma course in Asian Art will now be offered at SOAS from 2008. Korea and Japan are seen in their … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #7: Koen De Ceuster

Dr Koen De Ceuster – Docent, Leiden University The Korean delegation at the 1907 Peace Conference in The Hague Abstract: Barred from attending the Hague Peace Conference, the Korean delegation at first sight miserably failed in its task of representing Korea at the Conference. Reading this episode as a continuation of Kojong’s ongoing attempts to … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #6: Owen Miller

Dr Owen Miller – Research Fellow, Centre for Korean Studies, SOAS The crisis of Seoul’s traditional commercial system, 1876-1895 Abstract: The guild system of late Chosŏn Seoul and the guild-government trade underpinned the commerce of the capital city and represented a significant slice of national commerce as a whole. This premodern commercial system rested on … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #5: James Grayson

Professor James Grayson – Professor of Modern Korean Studies and Director of Centre for Korean Studies, Sheffield University Ch’udo yebae: a Protestant substitute for Confucian ancestral rituals Abstract: An early resolution of a conflict of values is necessary if a missionary religion is to find acceptance in the culture of the receiving society. In East … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #4: James B. Lewis

Dr James B. Lewis – University Lecturer in Korean History, Oxford University Korean expansion and decline from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century: a view suggested by Adam Smith Abstract: The first price runs for Korean rice help us develop a Smithian physiocratic model to explain the low, stable prices of the eighteenth century and … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #3: Peter Kornicki

Professor Peter Kornicki – Professor of East Asian Studies, University of Cambridge Publishing and translation in the Chosŏn period Abstract: Korea is famous in the global history of printing not only for the concrete evidence of printing in the eighth century found at the Bulguksa but also for the development and use of movable type … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #2: Anders Karlsson

Dr Anders Karlsson – Lecturer in Korean, SOAS Royal benevolence and disaster relief in Choson Korea No abstract is available Notes (the usual caveats about my amateur efforts apply) AK started with a brief account of the severe floods in Pyongan province in 1859. The records indicate that the central government sent an “admonishing magistrate” … [Read More]

Dec 07 BAKS conference report #1: Martina Deuchler

Professor Martina Deuchler – Professor of Korean Emerita & Professorial Research Associate, SOAS The social in society: some reflections on the meaning of descent groups in Korean history Abstract: The presentation will focus on the history of what I call the Korean “descent group” (ssijok) and trace its evolution from early Korea (Silla and Koryŏ, … [Read More]

The Korea Yearbook 2007

First, to note the publication of the 2007 Year Book, and to draw your attention to the call for papers for the 2008 Year Book. Articles in the 2007 yearbook deal with online grassroots journalism and participatory democracy, the Lone Star scandal, changing perceptions of inward direct investment, the impact of China’s economic ascendance, modern … [Read More]

Us and Them in Kenkanryu

Wednesday’s talk on the Japanese manga Kenkanryu was packed to overflowing — a strong contrast with the generally much sparser attendance at the Centre for Korean Studies seminars. Whether that’s a reflection of the greater number of people enrolled in Japanese Studies courses, or the popular culture subject matter I don’t know. In these few … [Read More]

The Japanese anti-Korean wave, at SOAS

Although this is a bit last minute, readers might be interested in tomorrow’s Japan Research Centre Seminar, which concerns the nationalist manga phenomenon ‘Kenkanryu’ and the so-called ‘Anti-Korean Wave’ in Japan. Wednesday 28 November, 5pm, SOAS main buildings G51 “Surfing the neo-nationalist wave: a case study of the manga Kenkanryu” Dr Nicola Liscutin (Birkbeck College) [Read More]