HRH Prince Andrew paid a visit to Korea last week, and as part of his visit retraced the footsteps of his mother’s state visit twenty years ago. He arrived on 12 May and his first engagement was a reception hosted by the ambassador HE Simon Smith: 🇬🇧🇰🇷The Duke of York is welcomed to South Korea […]
Category: Current Affairs
Francis Daehoon Lee meets Jeremy Corbyn
On Monday, before his London talk on Denuclearising The Korean Peninsula, Prof Francis Daehoon Lee of People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy was invited to lunch with Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, in a restaurant in his Islington constituency. He said he was impressed by Corbyn’s understanding of the situation in the Korean peninsular. Prof. Lee is […]
Screening: Daily Bread + 50 Years of Silence
Two films on the subject of a Dutch “Comfort Woman”. Daily Bread + 50 Years of Silence Arapina | 8 Little Thames Walk | London SE8 3FB 6pm, Wednesday 1 May 2019 Daily Bread Director: Ruby Challenger (Australia 2018, 15 mins, Dutch & Japanese with English subtitles. Historical drama) 50 Years of Silence Director: Ned […]
Ex-periphery: South Korea in the Post-miracle Era
A talk at St Antony’s College Oxford this month: Ex-periphery: South Korea in the Post-miracle Era Monday, 13 May 2019, 5:30pm Venue: Fellows’ Dining Room, St Antony’s College Speaker: Irina Lyan (Oxford) Convenor: Rosemary Foot In this talk I propose to draw attention to the often neglected category of ex-peripheries—former developing economies which are still […]
Korea Future Initiative launches new report in Houses of Parliament
As a follow-up to last year’s report on sexual violence against women in North Korea, Korea Future Initiative are now launching a report on the situation of North Korean women in China. The launch event, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, also includes witness testimonies. Update 20 May 2019: you can download […]
SOAS seminar: The Re-Organization of the Rural Economy in Modern Korea
The first, and possibly only, seminar of the new term: Empire by Association: The Re-Organization of the Rural Economy in Modern Korea, 1870-1945 Dr Holly Stephens (University of Edinburgh) Friday 26 April 2019, 5:15 – 7:00pm SOAS Brunei Gallery Room B104 | Registration required via SOAS website Abstract The late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries were a […]
Seungri’s shame makes it into the FT
It’s not often that you find a K-pop story in the pink pages of the Financial Times. In fact, if you search their site for “BTS” you will simply get a list of articles about the company formerly known as British Telecom. So what brings them to report the ins and outs of Lee Seung-hyun’s, […]
2019 LSE SU EAST ASIA Forum: “New Chapter for Cooperation?”
This year the LSE’s North Korea conference, which for the past couple of years has followed closely on the heels of the Korea Future Forum, has expended its scope to cover the whole region: 2019 LSE SU EAST ASIA Forum: “New Chapter for Cooperation?” Saturday 23 March 2019, 9:30am – 6pm Old Theatre | LSE […]
Korea’s Metoo, Withyou: A Conversation with Pros. Seo Jihyun
Join the SOAS Korean Social & Environmental Justice Society for a conversation with Prosecutor Seo Jihyun, the initiator of the Metoo movement in Korea. Prosecutor Seo Jihyun shocked the Korean society in January 2018 by appearing on national television to reveal the sexual harassment she had experienced at work and the serious career setbacks she […]
2019 LSE SU Korea Future Forum: Progression or Regression?
This year’s Korea Future Forum looks particularly interesting for the two keynote addresses, especially prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun. Full speaker details and more on the conference’s website and Facebook page. 2019 LSE SU Korea Future Forum Old Theatre, Old Building, LSE Saturday 2 March 2019, 9:30 AM – 5:20 PM Tickets £40 (students £20) | Buy […]
RIP Kim Bok-dong
Next Tuesday, 5 February, a vigil will be held in remembrance of Kim Bok-dong who passed away on Monday 28 January, aged 93. She was a victim of Japanese military sexual slavery and a tireless campaigner against violence to women and girls in conflict. Her visit to London in 2015 touched many hearts. The vigil […]
Screening: Stories from the Clean Room
SOAS Korean Social and Environmental Justice Society hosts Stories from the Clean Room: a documentary about workers who are dying to make the electronics we cannot live without. Stories from the Clean Room is a documentary exposing the dirty truths about toxic chemicals and harm to workers in the electronics industry. The film, made by […]
North Korea’s Nuclear Program – A New Perspective
SOAS’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Society and North Korean Culture Society host a public meeting offering new perspectives on the North Korean nuclear issue Monday 28 January 2019, 7pm till 9pm (Ending time depends on discussion) Venue: Room G3 | SOAS main building | Thornhaugh Street | Russell Square | London WC1H 0XG Guest Speaker: […]
Kia wins Car of the Year award
Congratulations to Kia for being the first Korean manufacturer to win Car of the Year award from the UK’s What Car? magazine. According to the magazine, “the e-Niro beats its rivals via knockout rather than on points, because it’s the first sensibly priced electric car that can fit into most people’s lives.” The company’s press […]
Korean Englishman team wins cultural ambassador award
Congratulations to the Korean Englishman team Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal for their “Korea Image Stepping Stone Bridge Award” from the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI). The award ceremony was held two days ago. Josh and Ollie run the 영국남자 Korean Englishman and JOLLY YouTube channels, which between them have over 4 million subscribers. Links: Corea Image […]
Sokeel Park awarded MBE
Congratulations to Sokeel Park for being awarded an MBE in the 2019 New Year’s Honours list, published on 28 December. The official citation in the Foreign Secretary’s Diplomatic Service and Overseas List reads: Sokeel John PARK, Country Director, Liberty in North Korea. For services to UK/Korea relations … though you suspect that Mr Park is […]
Gender and Politics in Northeast Asia: Legislative Patterns of Female Legislators in Korea and Taiwan
Organised by the SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies, but of interest to Koreanists: Gender and Politics in Northeast Asia: Legislative Patterns of Female Legislators in Korea and Taiwan 5 December 2018, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm SOAS, Russell Square, College Buildings, Room 4426 Abstract Drawing insights from the literature on the effect of gender on […]