London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

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Selected publications

Yonglee & the DOLTANG play Ronnie Scotts

Yonglee & the Doltang will present tunes from their recent album Invisible Worker. Led by pianist and composer Yonglee, their music satirically explores the complex desires and absurdities of modern society. DOLTANG’s sound fuses structural elegance with emotionally charged improvisation, balancing complexity and simplicity. Their music blends a wide range of contemporary genres, including rock, … [Read More]

Antoine Boyer (guitar) & Yeore Kim (harmonica) play the Bull’s Head

Antoine Boyer draws inspiration from the most authentic sources of gypsy jazz guitar, having studied under masters such as Mandino Reinhardt and FrancisAlfred Moerman. He has toured extensively, gracing stages at numerous gypsy jazz festivals across Europe and the US, and has shared the stage with guitarists like Stochelo Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre, Raphael Fays, and … [Read More]

Sun-mi Hong new album: UK tour

Sun-Mi Hong, the South-Korean-born and Amsterdam-based musician, stands as one of the most inventive drummers and composers of her generation, continuously pushing the boundaries of jazz and its intersections with diverse musical traditions. Her new album, entitled Fourth Page: Meaning of a Nest, is the second release on Edition Records following Third Page: Resonance with … [Read More]

Hyowa Project X Jieun Kim at The Jago Dalston

Traditional Korean music meets contemporary jazz with Hyowa Project alongside Seoul-based Haegeum player Jieun Kim. Hyowa Project: Hailing from Leeds’ contemporary jazz scene, Hyowa Project blends traditional Korean music with classic rock fusion and modern UK jazz. Founded by visionary guitarist and composer Hyo Jung, our quartet consists of Hyokyung Jung (guitar), Joe van der Meulen … [Read More]

Gray by Silver: The Symphony of Light and Shadow

For the first performance of their Autumn New Talents project, KCCUK presents Gray by Silver, a group who aims to introduce a new sight of Korean art music on a global stage. Programme 다스름 Daseurem 종달새 Lark AYIYA 해방 Liberation Time of Tree Ancient Tree Eternal Gray In this world, there are countless colours, yet … [Read More]

K-Music Festival 2024: an introduction

The programme for the 2024 K-Music Festival is quite possibly the best yet. For LKL, the real gems are the opening and closing events. We hear that the National Changgeuk Company‘s Lear, which opens the festival, is every bit as good as their Trojan Women, which we raved about; and for the closing event pretty … [Read More]

K-music 2024: Lee Heemoon’s Obangsingwa tour in London

Heemoon Lee, the visionary vocalist of SsingSsing, takes us on a transcendental musical journey with his band OBANGSINGWA and their new album, SPANGLE. A powerhouse of Korean music, Lee injects fresh energy and new life into time-honoured Korean folk songs (minyo). Seamlessly blending minyo with a kaleidoscope of genres – including jitterbug, pop, dance, rock … [Read More]

K-music 2024: Youn Sun Nah with Bojan Z

Youn Sun Nah in A Tribute to Women’s Voices. Following the success of her 2022 album ‘Waking World’, Youn Sun Nah returns to the K-Music Festival with her new work ‘Elles’. To mark the 30th year of her jazz career, Yoon Sun Nah’s 12th album Elles pays tribute to women’s voices, and to some of … [Read More]

Sun-mi Hong plays at the Vortex

Sun-Mi Hong makes two appearances at the Vortex this month, first as part of a quartet led by Ant Law and Alex Hitchcock – with whom she collaborated for the first time at K-Music 2022 – and then at the end of the month leading her own quintet: 2 March: Same Moon in the Same … [Read More]

K-music 2023: Soojin Suh & Kit Downes

Korean creative force, experimental drummer Soojin Suh brings her Chordless Quartet for a collaboration with acclaimed keyboardist Kit Downes. The concept behind the Soojin Suh Chordless Quartet is to explore freedom from all polyphonic instruments as a metaphor for freedom in society. Recent releases by the quartet include 2018’s critically acclaimed Strange Liberation and its 2021 follow-up, Roots … [Read More]

K-music 2023: Sun-Mi Hong + Hyelim Kim

Drummer Sun Mi Hong, acclaimed for her sensational performance with her quintet at last year’s K-Music Festival, is set to make a highly anticipated return to K-Music 2023. Following her debut with the album Third Page: Resonance under the UK Edition label, she returns with an extraordinary quartet comprising renowned jazz vocalist Song Yi Jeon, esteemed pianist … [Read More]

K-Music Festival 2022: the official press release

We’re excited at the line-up for this autumn’s K-Music Festival. Here are the full details, with links to the individual gig notices. K-MUSIC FESTIVAL 2022: Korea across London this autumn Wednesday 5 October – Thursday 24 November 2022 This autumn, as an exhibition ‘Hallyu! The Korean Wave’ opens at the V&A, the K-Music Festival, now … [Read More]

K-music 2021: the official press release

Last year, despite the lockdown, the K-music festival presented is with a huge range of talent via its online concerts. Many of the acts that we heard for the first time last year will now be making their way over to London (and Norwich) so that we can experience them live. There’s a real feast … [Read More]