London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

SOAS seminar – Small China concept in the T’aengniji by Yi Chung-hwan

The last SOAS seminar before Brexit… The Small China concept in the “T’aengniji” by Yi Chung-hwan (1690-1756?) Dr Nataliya Chesnokova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) 31 January 2020, 5:15 – 7:00 PM Paul Webley Wing (Senate House), Alumni Lecture Theatre, SOAS Free | Registration link on SOAS website Abstract The late Chosǒn period … [Read More]

Brief book review: Suni Samchon

Hyun Ki-young: Suni Samchon Translated by Lee Jung-hi Asia Publishers Bilingual Edition, 2012, 186pp Jeju Island, in Korean literature of the late 70s and 80s, is not the honeymoon destination of more recent years. It was a place of poverty, of bitter memories – a place to escape from rather than a destination to visit … [Read More]

The World’s First ‘Active’ Greenhouse

The greenhouse is an ancient invention, dating back 2,200 years. Modern ‘active’ greenhouses are distinguished from older ‘passive’ ones by the fact that they allow for the adjustment of air and soil temperature. Previously, the first such greenhouses were believed to have been built in Germany in 1619, using a stove to regulate air temperature, … [Read More]

Film Review: Love, Lies (Park Heung-sik, 2016)

An historic album made by a hitherto unknown Korean popular music singer from the colonial period is literally unearthed in a modern-day construction site. Miraculously, although the LP is damaged, audio engineers can restore the sound to something like the original, for broadcast on a golden oldies radio show. But who is the singer, and … [Read More]

Screening: Returning, After Seventy Years

Wednesday 29 October 2019, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm SOAS | Russell Square | College Buildings Room: 4429 Register online here Synopsis In September 1950 the Daily Worker journalist Alan Winnington released his pamphlet “I Saw The Truth in Korea” which documented atrocities in Daejeon during the Korean War presided over by the South Korean … [Read More]

Samuel Hawley’s Imjin War comes to YouTube

One of my most enjoyable reads so far this year has been Samuel Hawley’s Imjin War, originally published in 2005. At 664 pages long it might seem a bit intimidating, but in my view it could probably be twice as long and still be as gripping. But for those who like their history in nibble-sized … [Read More]

Nine Confucian academies listed at UNESCO

For visitors to Korea (such as myself) who like to try to get round all the UNESCO-listed world heritage sites, the list just got longer. On Saturday 6 July, the World Heritage Committee included nine Seowon, or Neo-Confucian Academies, in the list. The nine seowon are dotted around the central and southern parts of the … [Read More]

Screening: Daily Bread + 50 Years of Silence

On UN International Eliminate Sexual Violence in Conflict Day, SOAS Korean Social and Environmental Justice Society will have a special film event celebrating Jan Ruff O’Herne, a survivor of Japanese military sexual slavery, and human rights campaigner. Jan was inspired in 1991 by the Korean grandmothers to tell her story – and to tell her … [Read More]

Former UK Home Secretary to unveil statue commemorating Vietnamese victims

In an article on Politics Home, former UK Home Secretary Jack Straw writes about South Korea’s need to investigate rape and other atrocities inflicted by South Korean soldiers upon women during the Vietnam War. Despite Korea’s history of Japanese military sexual slavery, successive South Korean governments have refused to investigate their own military’s crimes against … [Read More]

[Cambridge] Ra Jong-yil Lecture – Professor Carter Eckert

This year’s Ra Jong-yil Lecture at Cambridge will be given by Professor Carter Eckert from Harvard University: The US in the Making of South Korean Militarism (1945-1961). The Shasha Suite | Westminster College | Madingley Road | Cambridge Wednesday, 29 May, 2019 – 17:00 to 19:00 Militarism has been deeply intertwined with Korean history and … [Read More]

Brief review: Samuel Hawley — The Imjin War

Samuel Hawley: The Imjin War – Japan’s Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China 2nd Edition, Conquistador Press 2014 Originally published by Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch, Seoul, 2005 How is it that a 664 page book only merits a brief review? Well, because as an historical book a proper review should only … [Read More]

2019 Travel Diary #3: Anmyeondo

Having enjoyed the peace of Mallipo and Chollipo beaches and the rich rewards of Chollipo arboretum on previous visits to Taean-gun, for LKL’s third visit to the county it was time to explore the coastline elsewhere. This time, we were to venture into Anmyeondo, Korea’s 6th-largest island, where the attractions include a recreational forest and … [Read More]