Sancheong-gun, Wednesday 4 May 2011. If I sometimes go on about the unique attractions of Sancheong County, at the foot of Jirisan in Gyeongsangnam-do, my sentiments are genuinely meant. The history, scenery, culture and special geomantic energy of the place all deserve frequent mention. But there’s an additional reason why I might mention Sancheong. For … [Read More]
Category: About (page 4)
A Special Global Community
Bella Frey talks about life as a Korean adoptee in England. It was in the 1950’s when the first babies were adopted to the United States from a war torn Korea. Many of them had been left orphaned and others abandoned. Since then hundreds of thousands of Korean babies and children have been adopted overseas … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #15: Korean Kites, Kim Ki-chan and Cho Se-hui’s Dwarf
Tuesday 4 May 2010. Although I’m very proud of the organisation I work for – a multinational company with a long heritage – I try to keep my Korean hobby and my day job separate. But I thought that as I was in Seoul I ought to pay a visit to some of my local … [Read More]
Korean Art PhD: ‘Picturing Migration: Presenting Art Works By Artists From South Korea Working In Britain, 2006-2008’
LKL contributor Dr Beccy Kennedy gives a flavour of what she has been working on for the past couple of years. ‘…memory organizes representations of the past into a structured sequence that produces a consciousness of an identity through time.’ (1) The visual and spoken cultural and social perspectives of South Korean artists living and … [Read More]
Kimchi Feeds My Soul
Korean food is one of my greatest loves, a love I felt I had always known but had yet to meet, like a soulmate. Adopted from Korea at a year old to Switzerland and then relocating to England aged four, I grew up in Southend, Essex. My Mum has lived much of her adult life … [Read More]
LKL welcomes new contributors
At LKL, we’re not a closed shop. We’re always looking for new people with different angles on things Korean who might want to join the merry band of contributors. You don’t have to contribute regularly or frequently. You don’t have to be based in London. What’s most important is that you have a passion about … [Read More]
Royal Ancestors: Preface
About this travel account These pages contain the record of nine days in Korea at the beginning of May 2010. The trip was at the generous invitation of the Korean Culture and Information Service, part of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The visit was part of their programme for meeting the needs of … [Read More]
Why LKL said nothing about Kim Yu-na. Until now.
“Right now the biggest thing in Korea is the Olympic skater Kim Yu-na. It’s a mania for us Koreans,” was a message left via the LKL contact form by a UK-based correspondent, shortly before the free skating element of the women’s figure skating event in the wee small hours this morning. I think I knew … [Read More]
Some thank-yous
Another fun year of blogging, and so it’s time to thank all those who have made things possible. In no particular order, thanks to: The regular and one-off contributors who provide coverage, insight and expertise that are beyond me, and make LKL much more than what it would otherwise be. We’ve had several new contributors … [Read More]
Quiz of the Year 2009 cancelled
There won’t be an LKL quiz of the year this year – too depressing. Most of the questions would have been about suicide. I agree with the Korea Times: good riddance to 2009. [Read More]
LKL featured in Weekly Donga
LKL was featured in a one-page interview in the Donga Weekly dated 1 December 2009. I had a quick email interview with a reporter based in Glasgow about my views on Korean film, Korean food, and the promotion of Korean culture abroad, plus the normal questions about how I got mixed up with Korean stuff … [Read More]
Recent highlights on LKL
I hope you don’t mind a bit of trumpet-blowing to thank some new contributors to London Korean Links. Some of them may be one-off, others more long-lasting; all are welcome. Elizabeth Grace covered Stephen Epstein’s recent talk in Cambridge, while Darren Southcott visits Jeju Stone Park and Colette Balmain compares Bong Joon-ho’s murder mysteries. Other … [Read More]
Thanks to VANK, KTO and Samsung: LKL’s blogging prize arrives
LKL yesterday received its prize in the Blog Korea Visit Korea competition, generously sponsored by Samsung and organised by VANK and the Korean Tourism Organisation. There were 100 winners – 5 first prize winners including New York based Maangchi (awarded an LG X12 Netbook), 15 second prize winners including LKL, and 80 third prize winners … [Read More]
Park Chan-wook in town for Thirst
Just had my photo taken with Park Chan-wook, while he’s in town for the premiere of Thirst. All's right with the world. # And appropriately enough, he cast a blood-red shadow as he answered questions after the screening of that vampire movie: # [Read More]
LKL v5 launched
Really pleased with the look of the new LKL front page. Now, if only I could figure out custom templates to get blogwatch working again… # [Read More]
Meet Mr Kim (and LKL) on YTN
A group of LKL contributors had gathered at Myungga in Kingly Street to celebrate LKL’s third birthday (yes, LKL first appeared on the web using the londonkoreanlinks.net domain name on 2 March 2006). It was a merry crew – Blogmeister Philip was joined by author and roving reporter Jennifer Barclay; documenter of Korean national cultural … [Read More]