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]
Category: Brand Korea
Beth McKillop reports from the 2016 Culture Communication Forum in Seoul
Senior Research Fellow and former Deputy Director at the Victoria and Albert Museum Beth McKillop was the UK’s representative at Korea’s annual Culture Communication Forum hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute. Since 1990 when I first visited Korea to collect ceramics, outfits and furniture for a planned Victoria and Albert Museum Korea gallery, I’ve … [Read More]
Looking back at 2015: Culture, sport and tourism
In the first of four articles looking back over 2015, we recall some of the culture, sports and heritage stories that made the news. Heritage The historic Baekje sites were listed by UNESCO as world heritage. UNESCO also listed in their Memory of the World register some Confucian woodblock texts and records of the family … [Read More]
Looking back at 2014: Culture, sport and tourism
In the first of four articles looking back over 2014, we recall some of the culture, sports and heritage stories that made the news. Arts Dansaekhwa emerged as flavour of the year. Following the MMCA exhibition in 2013 and Joan Kee’s book, Kukje Gallery had a monochrome retrospective, and dansaekhwa artists were included in MMCA … [Read More]
Looking back at 2013: Culture, tourism and branding stories
In the second of five articles looking back over 2013, we recall some of the tourism and heritage stories that made the news. And we also take a look at some of the stories about Korean food, given the increasing popularity of Korean cuisine of Korea. Arts and Heritage Sungnyemun, the great Namdaemun gate, reopened … [Read More]
2013 Korea Brand & Entertainment Expo celebrates the best of contemporary Korea
I’m struggling to keep up with the things which are being packed in to the three-day extravaganza at Old Billingsgate in the City, which accompanies the State Visit of President Park Geun-hye. KOTRA and KOCCA, with support from KIDP and ARKO, are working around the clock to bring a kaleidoscopic expo featuring some of the … [Read More]
Looking back at 2012: Culture, tourism and branding stories
The first of four articles in which we look back at some of the stories which caught our attention during the course of 2012. In this first article we look at cultural promotion, heritage, tourism and related topics. Heritage and Cultural Promotion Korea’s national folk song, Arirang, was listed as world Intangible Cultural Heritage by … [Read More]
Which is bigger: Gangnam Style or Dokdo?
There’s been an awful lot of Korean stuff going on this year. In the UK, All Eyes on Korea, Korea putting up a good showing in the Olympics, Im Kwon Taek in town, Lee Byung hun and BIGBANG coming soon, a huge art show at the Saatchi… and everywhere you turn there’s a certain rapper … [Read More]
Korea – the Amsterdam of Asia?
We’ve heard of the Koreans being the Irish of Asia. But in a recent video video interview in the Wall Street Journal World Bank president Jim Yong Kim says that “Koreans have expressly said they want to be the Amsterdam of Asia.” To many, that would mean Korea wants to legalise certain narcotic substances – … [Read More]
A look back at 2011 – part 2
In the second of our articles we look at stories relating to Sports, Tourism, and national branding and marketing. And K-pop and celebrities are never far away when talking of Brand Korea. Sports and Tourism Jeju was provisionally listed as one of the worlds New 7 Wonders, after a multi-month international marketing campaign. Celebrities ranging … [Read More]
Premium Korea at Harrods
A high profile four-week exhibition of some of Korea’s luxury brands is just coming to an end. I can only speculate as to how much KOTRA paid to hire the Exhibition Gallery at Harrods for four weeks. But space at the UK’s premier luxury department store doesn’t come cheap, and it must have taken a … [Read More]
A showcase Premium Korea event at Harrods
Top London store Harrods hosts Korean Embassy / KOTRA “Premium Korea” event to promote Korean products ranging from food to traditional china. Famous Korean fashion designer Lie Sang-bong showcases his collection in one of the showrooms. via @UKinKorea # [Read More]
Pyeongchang wins the 2018 Winter Olympics
On Radio 4 this morning an Ex British Olympic chief tipped Pyeongchang to win the 2018 winter olympics by 10 votes today. # Congratulations to the bid team. BBC Sport – Pyeongchang will host the 2018 Winter Olympics http://bbc.in/nDPICE # Inevitably, a lot of the attention became focussed on Kim Yu-na, “Kim Yu-na’s Pyeongchang fashion” … [Read More]
Gangnam seeks goodwill ambassadors
Why does glitzy Gangnam need foreign bloggers to act as honorary publicity ambassadors? http://bit.ly/dP5y9R #. On second thoughts, the place needs all the help it can get: I never go there if I can possibly avoid it. [Read More]
Korea.net is looking for bloggers
Korea.net, the Korean government’s online gateway, launched a blog earlier this year at http://blog.korea.net/. They currently have five experienced contributors, but they’re looking to expand their range of content providers by opening up their blog to new applicants. The aim of The Korea Blog is to show the contemporary side of Korea and its culture … [Read More]
A last look back at 2010
We’ve digested the albums, films, sporting events and books of the year, and reviewed some of the memorable stories of 2010 in our Quiz of the Year. Here are some of the other things we noted in 2010 which didn’t quite make it into any of those articles. 2010: a year of anniversaries It was … [Read More]