London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Season’s Greetings to all our readers

Another year of intermittent lockdown and social distancing measures, and once again The Drawing Hand has risen to the challenge of creating a suitable seasonal image for LKL’s readers. It’s difficult to see how things are going to change much over the coming months. But we have our enthusiasms and friendships to sustain us. So, … [Read More]

Literature and poetry in translation titles for 2021: more than a dozen to look forward to!

This is now LKL’s fifth annual post that looks at the literature and fiction titles we’re looking forward to over the coming twelve months. Since last year we’ve made things easier for ourselves by investing some time building a book database that aims to catalogue all physical publications of Korean literature in translation, as well … [Read More]

Moon Jae-in’s 2021 New Year speech

Set out below is the unofficial translation of President Moon’s 2021 New Year’s Address, sourced from the Cheongwadae website: People-driven aspirations: Recovery, Inclusiveness and Resurgence Fellow Koreans, The Year of the White Ox is upon us. Painfully aware of the current situation, I wish everyone hope. I can fully understand why people are saying that … [Read More]

Kim Jong Un’s 2021 New Year letter

Kim Jong Un’s 2021 New Year message is simple and brief, taking the form of a hand-written letter to his people. Below is the official release sourced from the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. The Rodong Sinmun has also posted on its website a facsimile of the letter, and an image of Kim Jong … [Read More]

A review of the Korean cultural year 2020

It would be an understatement to say that the cultural year 2020 has been markedly different from previous years. The pandemic has had a huge impact on the cultural scene, with most live events cancelled and event promoters falling back on the internet to provide us with our cultural fixes. Some of these attempts have … [Read More]

A look back at our 2020 reading diary

Like many readers, we started the year with good intention of blitzing through the pile of new titles that were promised for the coming months, as well as making inroads into the backlog. And we genuinely got off to a good start with a string of fun K-thrillers, some of them new, some not: The … [Read More]

Season’s greetings to all our readers

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all of LKL’s readers, friends and contributors. Have a peaceful break with as many of your nearest and dearest as you are permitted to see, and whatever you do stay safe. When I wrote a similar post this time last year I expressed the wish that … [Read More]

Moon Jae-in’s 2020 New Year speech

Here is the text of President Moon Jae-in’s 2020 New Year Message, sourced from the Blue House website. Fellow Koreans, The New Year, the Year of the White Rat, has dawned. We rang out the significant past year that marked the centennial of the March First Independence Movement and the founding of the Provisional Republic … [Read More]

Kim Jong Un’s 2020 New Year message

Notes of a speech given by Chairman Kim Jong Un at the Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea serves as this year’s New Year address. Text sourced from dprktoday.com Report on 5th Plenary Meeting of 7th C.C., WPK​ Pyongyang, January 1 (KCNA) — The 5th Plenary Meeting of the … [Read More]

A review of the Korean cultural year 2019

A review of some of the highlights and trends in the Korean cultural year, primarily in London but also with half an eye to anything we might have seen elsewhere in the UK. The review is a personal one, inevitably skewed towards the events we managed to get to. Introduction This time last year I … [Read More]

Season’s greetings to all our readers

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all of LKL’s readers, friends and contributors. Have a peaceful break, and may 2020 turn out better than 2019. As in previous years, thanks are due to Jieun Kim aka The Drawing Hand for the London Korean Christmas design which adorns the cards that some of … [Read More]