South Korea's 20 hottest male celebs: CNNGo’s list is topped by Jang Dong-gun, Won Bin and Bae Yong-joon. http://bit.ly/aZAANo – via allkpop http://bit.ly/cDqitG But why isn’t Lee Byung-hun on the list? # [Read More]
Category: Asides (page 70)
JYP’s new girl band
Do we need another manufactured girl band from JYP? What the heck, why not? Just hope they get original songwriters. Above: “Miss A” – slightly less cute than the current wave of k-pop girl bands. http://bit.ly/9GTF9h # [Read More]
Hyundai’s overseas construction projects
This kind of thing completely dwarfs export earnings from film and TV drama: Hyundai's huge construction projects including the proposed Hanoi Marriott (above) http://bit.ly/cyoeS0 # [Read More]
Pastel scarves for men the latest fashion craze
I can see pretty male silk scarves lasting about as long as male sarongs. http://bit.ly/9AUYwV # [Read More]
Mount Baekdu will erupt soon, say geologists
As if everything to do with North Korea isn’t depressing enough already, we are warned that Mount Baekdu will erupt in the next few years. http://bit.ly/9WVVgO # [Read More]
Kia Cee’d is Top Gear’s Sensible Car
"The Kia Cee’d is a car that lobs the paving slab of reality into the windscreen of preconception". Review on Top Gear, where it gets a creditable 11/20. It’s also the “sensible” car driven by celebs in the new TV series. http://bit.ly/9Qmh4s # [Read More]
Wake Up and Laugh!
Just discovered a great Korean Buddhist blog, Wake Up and Laugh! Their latest post Three months of eating garlic and mugwort analyses the Tangun myth, and in passing talks about the Korean saying “In the days when tigers smoked tobacco…”. # [Read More]
The Korea Teddy Bear Association
Korea has a Teddy Bear Association? I thought it was only Brits who were so cranky. Do you think that group of bears is meant to be Super Junior T? http://bit.ly/cNoXQ6 # [Read More]
Demick wins Samuel Johnson prize
Congratulations to Barbara Demick for winning the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nothing to Envy (reviewed by LKL here) Through extensive interviews with defectors, Los Angeles Times journalist Barbara Demick shows in a compelling and unforgettable way that this hermetic country is Orwell’s 1984 made reality. Sources: Samuel Johnson Prize website | Guardian # [Read More]
Struggling with all the Shinga
Well, I just finished this year's essay book (Park Wan-suh’s Who ate all the Shinga?) and it's even harder than last year. Nothing to get your teeth into. And that wasn’t meant to be a pun. Last year’s text at least gave you a challenge in trying to understand it. This year’s adds very little … [Read More]
Pimatgol at Night, by the Metropolitician
"To Hell and Back" and the "Dirty" Streets of Seoul. The Metropolitician’s essay on Pimatgol and Seoul at night is well worth a read: http://bit.ly/9QhkKv # [Read More]
Brother Anthony translates Until Peonies Bloom
UNTIL PEONIES BLOOM: Brother Anthony brings the complete poems of Kim Yeong-Nang to an English-speaking audience. http://bit.ly/d1TdT0 # [Read More]
New Korean prizewinning work performed in competition
Just like last year, the competitors in the Queen Elisabeth Music comp in Brussels play work by a prize-winning Korean. Jeon Min-je won the Grand Prize for composition in the 2009 competition. All 12 finalists in this year’s piano event performed Jeon’s work for piano and orchestra, “Target.” http://bit.ly/aH9U5o # [Read More]
Kim Ayoung in the Summer Exhibition
This is the first year I've noticed Korean work in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Kim Ayoung won a British Institution Award from the Royal Academy of Arts for her Crop of Dope to Help My Kids, 26 May 2008 http://bit.ly/HoRSCk # [Read More]
Lee Hyori caught with plagiarised songs. Again.
Not again! Isn't it about time Lee Hyori hired some composers who compose rather than copy? http://bit.ly/bXynR8 # [Read More]
The Red Devils’ secret weapon
Maybe if England had a few cheergirls like Korea they might play a bit better: http://bit.ly/cnfKCu # The so-called “Cheer Girl against Greece” was identified as actress Song Si-yeon [Read More]