Well, I guess everyone who’s going to watch it has watched it already, but nevertheless I’ve tried to avoid any major spoilers in the below. Here’s the list of things that struck me most about the hit series. Most enjoyable reveal Runner up was the identity of the multi-gazillionaire who set up the game, But the … [Read More]
Category: …blow by blow
A collection of links about a long-running story
Choigate and Park Geun-hye’s censorship of the arts – contd
A couple more links relating to censorship under Park Geun-hye, which will be updated as news breaks. First, a re-post of the pdf purporting to be the blacklist of 9,473 names, first posted here. 10 Jan 2017: Via Br Anthony comes the “appalling news … that [Park] personally gave orders that the two most important … [Read More]
British artist at sea with Hanjin Shipping
Winning a residency programme is often a milestone in a young artist’s career. When Royal College of Art MA sculpture student Rebecca Moss won a residency programme from Vancouver’s Access Gallery, that sounded like a huge opportunity. The residency, entitled 23 Days at Sea, involves sailing in a container ship from Vancouver to Shanghai – … [Read More]
Minister Thae moves south
Here are a few links relating to Minister Thae Yong-ho’s defection. Minister Thae was the cultural attache at the DPRK embassy in London, and according to reports effectively the deputy head of mission. At LKL, we came across him during the second art exhibition held at the embassy back in 2014. He was probably there … [Read More]
A selection of clippings from Rio 2016
1. The ROK team’s opening parade: who’s the foreign-looking chap who can’t tuck his shirt in or do his top button up? 2. The first selfie to go viral — gymnast Lee Eun-Ju (ROK) with Hong Un Jong (DPRK) (photo: Reuters): 3. The first world record of the games – in archery: “South Korean world … [Read More]
Han Kang’s Vegetarian wins the Man Booker International Prize
The news that Han Kang and Deborah Smith had won the Man Booker International prize for The Vegetarian, sharing £50,000 between them, reached me on Tuesday morning, 17th May, in a hotel room of a vast Lotte resort celebrating Baekje cultural heritage just outside of Buyeo, Chungcheongnamdo. I saw the news on Facebook, and just … [Read More]
BIFF controversy inching towards resolution? Probably not
With the news that the Busan Mayor Suh Byung-soo has stepped down from the position as figurehead of BIFF, perhaps the controversy over the festival is getting towards some form of resolution. The wonder, as most have pointed out, is how the controversy managed to arise in the first place. Tony Rayns marvels at the … [Read More]
A surviving victim’s view on the Korea-Japan Comfort Women “deal”
In September this year 90 year old survivor of WW2 Japanese military sexual slavery Kim Bok-dong gave two public talks in London, at the Korean Cultural Centre and at Goldsmiths University. She said she had come, ‘not as a victim but as a human rights activist’, and explained that the surviving ladies were not just … [Read More]
Commentary on The Interview
LKL has been an Interview-free zone, mainly for the reason that we always thought that the film was not a very good idea. But for the sake of pulling together in one place the links to the most interesting commentary on the film, the two best quotes, in the two most interesting articles, come from … [Read More]
The Sewol story in links
A random collection of links relating to the sinking of the Sewol on 16 April, updated as necessary. Arirang News compares the capsising of the Sewol with that of its sister ship the Ariake. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNaUigToOZo Confucian guilt spreads in Korea – Death of innocents sparks condemnations of wicked adult world: an early use of the … [Read More]
Jong Song Thaek, blow by blow
A list of articles on the subject of the Jang Song Thaek purge: Kim Jong Un’s uncle ‘very likely’ removed from power – Washington Post, 3 December 2013 N. Korea announces purge of Jang Song Thaek for “anti-party, counter-revolutionary factional acts” – Free Korea, 8 December 2013 Report on Enlarged Meeting of Political Bureau of … [Read More]
‘I sold my blood to attend a K-fandom convention’ – and other recent K-wave articles
For those with time on their hands, here’s a few articles about how far K-pop is spreading, whether K-pop culture is beating J-pop culture and other copy generated by the Psy phenomenon. Highly recommended: Will the Korean pop culture boom have legs?, Tao Jones, 22 November, Wall Street Journal Speakeasy blog – has the shock … [Read More]
He’s the UK Chuseok #1 – but will he ever be allowed to perform anything else?
In this evening’s UK popular music chart listings, PSY finally made it to the top slot, having reached number three last week. Not bad going for a track released in mid July the other side of the Eurasian landmass. It’s been interesting watching the Gangnam wave as it has spread from Seoul to the rest … [Read More]
A London 2012 Korean Olympic round-up
Here are some of the highlights and headlines from the past two weeks or so of Korean athletes at the London 2012 Olympics: 25 July North Korea’s Olympic women’s football team walked off the pitch for an hour at their opening London 2012 match tonight after organisers mistakenly introduced the players using South Korea’s flag. … [Read More]
“Hostages in the Hermit Kingdom”
I can’t remember seeing any positive coverage of the two journalists (Laura Ling and Euna Lee) who managed to get themselves captured by the North Koreans on March 17, before getting released following a special visit by Bill Clinton. Here’s a random selection of some of the articles. Bradley K Martin (Global Post, 18 June … [Read More]
Mad Cows: President Lee’s apology
The following is the full text of President Lee Myung-bak’s statement in a live TV broadcast at Cheong Wa Dae on 22 May to address the resumption of U.S. beef imports and ratification of the Korea-U.S. FTA. Courtesy of the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOIS). For those who haven’t been following the Mad Cow … [Read More]