London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

[Edinburgh] AKSE Conference

The University of Edinburgh will host the 32nd biennial Association for Korean Studies in Europe (AKSE) Conference as an in-person event from 19 to 22 June 2025 in Edinburgh, UK. The conference is co-organized by the University of Edinburgh with the AKSE Council. The biennial AKSE conferences provide an opportunity for European scholars of Korean … [Read More]

Book talk: Sohn Won-Pyung’s Counterattacks at Thirty

In celebration of the UK publication of ‘Counterattacks at Thirty’ by Sohn Won-Pyung, the KCC is bringing you an online event featuring translator Sean Lin Halbert and Anton Hur, an award-winning translator of Cursed Bunny, Love in the Big City, and author of Toward Eternity.⁠ ⁠ We’ll be diving into:⁠ – The art of translation … [Read More]

KCC Seminar Series: Inventing Bloodlines

Join the KCCUK on Thursday, 27 March 2025, at 6:30pm for a special lecture by Professor Nuri Kim, Assistant Professor of Korean Studies at the University of Cambridge. This talk will examine the historical and cultural significance of lineage and ancestry in modern Korea. Inventing Bloodlines: Claiming and Contesting Ancestry in Modern Korea Almost every … [Read More]

Book talk: Charlotte Horlyck on The Emergence of the Korean Art Collector and the Korean Art Market

Articulating the shifting interests in Korean art and offering new ways of conceiving the biases that initiated and impacted its collecting, this book traces the rise of the modern Korean art market from its formative period in the 1870s through to its peak and subsequent decline in the 1930s. The discussion centres on the collecting … [Read More]

Remembering ‘Comfort Women’: Politics of memory and international perspectives

Co-hosted by SOAS and the Northeast Asian History Foundation, this conference brings together prominent scholars on the “comfort women” issue and broader topics of wartime sexual violence, along with expert discussants from a variety of relevant fields. In an era where historical revisionism and political tensions increasingly shape narratives of the past, this event provides … [Read More]

K-Dance Seminar – Choreographic Humour: Korean-British Connections and Divergences

How does humour function in contemporary choreography? What comic affinities might there be between Korean and British choreographers, and how do their approaches differ? This seminar brings together artists featured in A Festival of Korean Dancein recent years with UK-based artists affiliated with The Place, for a discussion around dance’s potential to transform the conventions … [Read More]

SOAS seminar: Recording memories of human rights violations in North Korea

The human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea or DPRK) is exceptionally challenging to address externally, as the population remains isolated from the international community and lacks an independent civil society to advocate for people’s rights. Despite these difficulties, the situation has been captured and documented primarily through the ‘voices’ … [Read More]

SOAS seminar: The techno-sublime of media spectacle – Screen and space in Seoul’s DDP

The contemporary city increasingly manifests as an urbanscape where digital screen and architectural space converge to create new forms of cultural experience. Seoul, with its high degree of media saturation, exemplifies a city interwoven with advanced digital technology that articulates distinct combinations of corporeal, emotional, and spatial perceptions. Within the context of the convergence of … [Read More]

KCCUK International Women’s Day historical talks

Exploring the Political and Social Roles of Women in Joseon Korea: KCCUK presents an International Women’s Day Special “K-History Unlock”, a lecture series on women’s roles and influence in Joseon Korea. 1. Governance from Behind the Bamboo Curtain: Joseon’s Queen Dowager Regencies Date: Wednesday, 5th March 2025 | Time: 6:30 PM Speaker: Lucy Waugh (PhD … [Read More]

Understanding South Korea’s Political Crisis: Martial Law, Impeachment and Populist Politics

A Roundtable on Contemporary South Korean Politics Speakers: Jang Kyung-tae (Democratic Party of Korea), Kim Jaesub (People Power Party), Lee Jaeyoung (People Power Party). Chair: Dr John Nilsson-Wright Following President Yoon Suk-Yeol’s surprise announcement of martial law on December 3, 2024, South Korean politics has been plunged into a period of great political uncertainty and … [Read More]

The Postdevelopmental State: Dilemmas of economic democratization in contemporary South Korea

Dr Doucette will introduce his recently published book on the politics and political economy of contemporary South Korea – a book that is even more topical in the current political crisis the country is facing. This book is a major contribution to both Korean and East Asian Political Economy across a number of different disciplines. … [Read More]

Confucianism and disaster: Floods, lightning and cosmology in Eighteenth-Century Chosŏn Korea

This presentation explores Chosŏn-period (1392-1910) Confucian responses to disaster. This was a period in which Confucianism not only was the state ideology, but also guided interaction in local communities socially and economically dominated by local elites sharing the ideas of this ideology. The Confucian convictions of this elite dictated how they, as leaders of communities, … [Read More]

Who’s in town: Hyunjin Kim

Who’s in Town is a loose programme series that invites curators, writers, researchers, and arts practitioners passing by London to stop at Asymmetry for a casual conversation with our audience. Designed to foster open sharing among aspiring and seasoned practitioners alike, the format offers a unique opportunity to engage and exchange with exciting professionals of different … [Read More]

SOAS-OKCHF Workshop: Collecting Korea — Explorations of Korean Collections in the UK and their continued relevance

This workshop examines the history and significance of Korean objects held in UK institutions, and their role in shaping contemporary understandings of Korean cultural heritage. Beginning in the 1880s, institutions acquired a wide variety of items from the Korean peninsula, ranging in type from ceramics, paintings, and textiles, to books and plant specimens. The workshop … [Read More]