Aashish Gadhvi waves an emotional goodbye to the captain marvel, Park Ji-sung. The Asian Cup brought an end to many things. It brought an end to Korea’s hopes of claiming the Asian Cup for the first time since hosting the tournament in 1960. It brought about the end of legendary left back Lee Young-pyo’s career … [Read More]
Category: Interviews and features (page 7)
John H Lee interview: balancing emotion and intellect
Director John H. Lee discusses “71 – Into the Fire”, balancing ambition and budget in large-scale war scenes, the film’s global reception, and commemorating the Korean War. He also reflects on “A Moment to Remember”, casting Son Ye-jin, director’s cuts, and social themes shaping his films. [Read More]
Interview: London based Korean artist, Francesca Cho
London based artist Francesca Cho has studied and worked in London for the past seventeen years. I was curious at how an artist who has lived in London for such a long time would think about her self-identity and how her works would deal with Korean identity in London. Why did you use Korean letters … [Read More]
The Legend of Lee Young-pyo
Aashish Gadhvi waves a final goodbye to Lee Young-pyo This Asian Cup tournament has seen the retirement of two of South Korea’s greatest ever footballers from the international game. Lee Young-pyo and Park Ji-sung have both decided to call it a day and hang up their boots for their country. No country could ask for … [Read More]
Im Sang-soo interview: power, patriarchy and provocation in The Housemaid
Director Im Sang-soo discusses his reimagining of the 1960 classic The Housemaid, exploring the intersection of class structure and patriarchal power. He addresses the functional role of graphic sexuality in his films, the serendipitous symbolism of an actress’s scar, and his defiant stance toward commercial expectations and critical reception in the Korean film industry. [Read More]
Kim Ji-woon interview: the utter emptiness of revenge
Kim Ji-woon discusses I Saw the Devil, the controversy over its extreme violence, his approach to revenge and human darkness, casting Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik, and his upcoming Hollywood project. He also reflects on scripting, genre, and how psychological and emotional truths shape his films. [Read More]
Economic growth the priority for Korea in Laos
Even for those familiar with the world of development aid, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) – the Korean government overseas aid organisation – may be a bit of an unknown entity. Arguably lacking the stature of a USAID or the pedigree of a DfID, KOICA has had to build its reputation from scratch in recent … [Read More]
Celtic’s latest signing: interview with Cha Du-ri
Aashish Gadhvi gets another scoop: an interview with Celtic’s latest signing, Cha Du-ri. Aashish caught up with him during the Emirates Cup after Celtic’s 2-2 draw with Lyon on 31 July 2010. Thanks to Gideon Lee for the subtitling. [Read More]
Celtic v Arsenal: interview with Ki Sung-yueng
Aashish Gadhvi is amassing an impressive collection of exclusive interviews with South Korea’s best footballers. He caught up with Ki Sung-yueng after scoring for Celtic against Arsenal in the Emirates Cup on 1 August 2010. Ki is on fine form: excellent English, and relaxed and informative. In fact he interviews much better than many English … [Read More]
Chichester’s finest Korean chef
Inkun Kim, 26, from Seoul, Korea, is the newest chef to have joined the Dining Room (or as many locals still know it, Arthur Purchase’s) in a beautiful Georgian building on Chichester, West Sussex. And he’s already put kimbap on the menu. I’m impressed. He graduated at Korea Culinary Arts Science High School, the best … [Read More]
Whose generation? The hallyu in South-East Asia
Darren Southcott finds the Korean Wave alive and kicking in South-East Asia Had I heard of the Korean Wave, or Hallyu, while I was in the UK I would probably have assumed it was an Asian take on a Central American football terrace tradition. The closest I ever came to being subsumed by it was … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #17: The Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation
Tuesday 4 May 2010. As part of my trip to Korea, I wanted to understand more about the way in which Korea goes about preserving its ancient culture and presents it for modern audiences. Is it possible to market traditional culture to foreigners as a theme for tourism? How is it possible to market traditional … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #16: A meeting with Hwang Byungki
Tuesday 4 May 2010. Hwang Byungki is probably Korea’s best known performer and composer for the kayageum. When I submitted my proposal to the Korean Culture and Information Service for the stories I wanted to investigate during my visit – of which the main one was the preservation and reinvention of Korean traditional culture – … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #14: Seoul as World Design City
Tuesday 4 May 2010. More interviews today. First, the Seoul Design Foundation. We enter an anonymous office block, and ascend to the ninth floor. Exiting the lifts, the signature colour on the wall is the fashionable lime green which seems to be used in all this year’s kitchen design catalogues. It’s a busy office, with … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #12: A Meeting with Sorea
Monday 3 May 2010. In an unprepossessing building in a small backstreet in trendy Gangnam is a compact office which manages a gugak fusion band which briefly caught the spirit of a nation. At the height of the Korea, Sparkling promotional campaign, when the Korean Tourism Organisation was promoting Korea as a place with ancient … [Read More]
Presenting intangible cultural heritage in Bucheon
Monday 3 May 2010. Bucheon, a city of around 850,000 people in Gyeonggi-do just 40 minutes’ drive West from Seoul, is home of the Bucheon World Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo (BICHE), an annual event which showcases some of Korea’s finest performance arts and crafts alongside those of a dozen or so invited countries. The first … [Read More]