Thanks to Mark Russell over at Korea Pop Wars for news of a photo journal of Bae Doo-na’s visit to London. Can any Korean speakers out there have a read of what appears to be Ms Bae’s official blog at Naver, and tell me how to get hold of the book? Update 11 April: It’s … [Read More]
Category: Asides (page 84)
Priceless
A picture to gladden the heart. I assume, based on the swords being carried (presumably not standard contemporary battlefield issue) that this is a photo of a rehearsal for a public performance. Thanks as ever to Tom Coyner for this treasure. And another, unrelated, bizarre item from the North, from Der Spiegel: this coming weekend … [Read More]
Football fever grips Seoul
With the world cup kicking off in Germany on 9 June, South Koreans are hoping for a repeat of their 2002 success: An image from the BBC’s website (above) and one from the Chosun Ilbo (below). [Read More]
Capital markets consolidation
The Asia Times has a good article on the Capital Markets Consolidation Act. Thanks to the Flying Yangban for spotting it. [Read More]
A day in the life of a Kim Jong-il impersonator
This article on the Yonhap website is worth a look describing the professional rivalry between two Kim Jong-il lookalikes Kim Young-sik and Bae Eun-sik. Of the two, Kim Young-sik appears to be the better known, at least outside of Korea. He has been featured in an Australian TV news item and also in an article … [Read More]
Celeb watch
A couple of items from today’s Chosun Ilbo which I didn’t want to lose: (1) Lee Young-ae’s Japanese fans tell her she looks as if she’s 61 years old (2) Rain confirmed in Time 100 as one of the world’s most influential entertainers. The KBS site has a rather more fetching photo of the star … [Read More]
Coming Soon
It’s going to take me a while to digest yesterday’s concert in the Fairfield Hall, but it’s going to get a thumbs up. In the meanwhile, I share with you a snapshot (apologies for the poor quality – it was taken, Korean-style, with a mobile phone) of Lee Soo-young, Kim Young-im and Joo Hyung-ki leading … [Read More]
Saying Sorry with cash
I haven’t been following the Hyundai Slush Fund story, but Hyundai hopes to have drawn a line under it with a $1bn charitable donation. Samsung apparently adopted a similar approach to the tune of $840mn last year. Lone Star, meanwhile, is making a $100mn donation as a goodwill gesture in relation to its KEB purchase … [Read More]
DPRK’s need for hard currency
Sorry, I’m a bit behind with some of the news stories. The BBC ran an interesting one a couple of days ago on the US$ supernotes and other ways of generating hard currency. The theme is picked up on in today’s DPRK embassy e-bulletin. [Read More]
Bi / Rain to make it into Time top 100?
This one’s a story worth following, for the power of the Hallyu. According to the Chosun Ilbo, Rain is only just slightly behind Ang Lee and ahead of JK Rowling and George Clooney as the most influential artist / entertainer of 2006 in Time Magazine’s top 100. You, along with thousands of K-Pop fans, can … [Read More]
Lee O-young (tr John Holstein) – Things Korean
(Tuttle 1999) A lovely coffee table book with beautiful images with descriptions. Though I think that if I were a woman I would be bristling at times about the author’s nostalgia for the times when a woman concerned herself with womanly things. Links: Buy at Amazon.co.uk [Read More]
Jeon Jemin, ed Kevin O’Rourke: Korean Stories
(Eul & Al, 2004) A strange collection. Confucian stories, Buddhist stories, and some essays which though brief remind you of the disjointed ramblings of a genial but slightly senile grandfather. One of the essays does explain, though, why the bedwetting boy in one of the short films in the collection If you were me is … [Read More]
Judith G. Smith (ed): Arts of Korea
(Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998) Beautifully illustrated with articles on Pottery, Buddhist Culture, Landscape Painting and other topics. A seriously lavish book, with a price tag to match. I’ll comment further once I’ve dipped into it. Links: Buy at Amazon.co.uk [Read More]
Roderick Whitfield (ed): Handbook of Korean Art – Folk Painting
(Laurence King Publishers, 2003) Part of a series of small books on Korean Art, this one is great to have on the bedside table. Each written section on a particular aspect of folk art takes a minute or so to read and is accompanied by several pages of examples and illustrations. Other books in the … [Read More]
Stephen Turnbull: Samurai Invasion – Japan’s Korean War 1592-98
Cassell, 2002, 256pp Shows how factionalism in the Korean court, complacency and incompetence led to the easy conquest of Korea by Japan in 1592. Well illustrated, with maps and photographs, this book plots the course of the 6-year occupation of Korea at the end of the 16th century, and the brutal modes of warfare (Korea’s … [Read More]
Keith Howard (ed): True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women.
(Cassell, 1995). Does what it says on the tin. Testimonies by former comfort women. Don’t read this all at once. It’s overwhelming. Update 9 July 2011. In an email to the members of the British Association for Korean Studies, Keith Howard gave the following background to the publication: ‘True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women’ … [Read More]