Hmmm. Gone is the 기, 흥 and 정 of Lee Charm. Instead, are we to get an emphasis on K-pop at the expense of the more traditional things? Two quotes from an interview with Byun Choo-suk, the new KTO president, in the Korea Herald: “The royal guard changing ceremony at palaces in Seoul, traditional mask […]
Category: Travel Promotion
2013 Travel Diary #36: The royal perambulation
Insadong, Seoul, Monday 16 September, 7am. What more to report? I finish my packing. I ring home. I pay the bill. I hail the usual taxi in the street and get it to drop me off at the Koreana Hotel. I buy the bus ticket. I get on the KAL airport limo-bus. I get to […]
KTO advertises at Piccadilly Circus
For the duration of the Olympic Games, the KTO has taken out some advertising space at Piccadilly Circus, joining the other Korean advertisements there – Samsung, Hyundai and LG. Here are a few shots taken on 30 July:
Last chance to enter the KTO’s photo competition
Last chance to enter the KTO’s photo competition celebrating Asiana’s daily flights from London to Seoul. http://t.co/H1xCXhM4
The Korea Promotional Video competition
Check out 10 Magazine’s Korean Promotional Video competition. Great fun. Winning entry is number 13, by Michael Aronson. http://bit.ly/cuEbiv #
Korea Attraction ap for iPhone
Free Korea Attraction Grid Puzzle for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store http://bit.ly/c9ZsFN #
A belated look back at 2009
For the past 3 years LKL has concocted a quiz of the year as a way of gathering together some of the news stories which have most caught our eye. This year, as I came to draw up the list in mid December I found it hard to think of anything amusing or diverting: most […]
Korea, recharge your energy
In fifty years since the Korean War, South Korea was catapulted from being one of the poorest countries on the planet, on a par with Ethiopia and Bangladesh, to being one of the OECD countries with a GDP that hovers between 11th and 13th in the world, depending on exchange rates. Now Mr Charm Lee, […]
Meeting more Mr Kims: CoolstuffKorea on Cheju Island
Jennifer Barclay, LKL contributor and author of Meeting Mr Kim, has landed herself a dream assignment for the Korean Tourism Organisation: tweet about Korea, travel round Korea, write about Korea on Facebook, generally do things we’d all like to be doing, and maybe earn a little bit of pocket money as well. Nice one, Jen. […]
Visit GoKorea.co.uk and enjoy the Festival
As most readers will know, this weekend’s Thames Festival is a fun event, and more importantly has a lot of Korean performers entertaining the crowds and bringing the best of Korean culture to London. The Korean “Village” is sponsored by Asiana Airlines, Expedia, H.I.S., the Korea Tourism Organisation and the Korean Cultural Centre UK. In […]
Naturalized Korean Charm Lee to Head Korea Tourism Organization
A press release announcing the new KTO head. On July 30, 2009, the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) announced that German-born naturalized Korean Charm Lee (55) has been appointed as their new President and CEO. His appointment was based on the Korean government’s decision that he is the most well qualified figure to develop and promote […]
Korea Times and National Branding
The Korea Times is currently running an interesting series of articles on Korea’s national brand. The paper has asked a number of foreigners – branding, business, tourism and advertising specialists – to comment on Korea’s perception overseas. Some of the writers are uniquely qualified to provide insights: Simon Anholt, for example, is the man who […]
B-boys promote Korean tourism at KCC
It’s now more than a year since the somewhat controversial launch of the Korea, Sparkling tourism brand. As I suspected at the time, people would get used to it in due course, and now the logo has become a familiar feature on the various tourist literature available. The branding, together with the Han Style campaign […]
AKS Korean night – she said
One of two accounts of the recent Anglo-Korean Society evening at the KCC – this one by new contributor Béatrice Colbrant What a cheerful and pleasant evening at the Korean Cultural Centre, organised on 10 April 2008 by indefatigable and always enthusiastic Sylvia Park, social events secretary of the Anglo Korean Society! The new Korean […]
AKS Korean night – he said
One of two accounts of the recent Anglo-Korean Society evening at the KCC – this one by Matthew Jackson The forces of the AKS, KTO and KCC were combined to good effect at the Cultural Evening on Thursday, 10 April. Walking around the packed Cultural Centre, it felt as though things have changed a lot […]
These people make me angry
Today we have two accounts of the AKS evening of Korean culture on 10 April (one of them unsolicited by me). Both of them are favourable and rightly appreciative of the efforts of Sylvia Park of the AKS in organising the event. So I feel justified in presenting another angle. The evening was scheduled to […]
The Han Style campaign
Realising that the Hallyu may not last for ever, and recognising that the best marketers do not stake the financial health of the company on just one product, the Culture and Tourism ministry earlier this year decided to diversify their product portfolio. Recognising that some of the key differentiating features of Korean culture are designated […]