London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

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Selected publications

Modern Korean history documentary double bill at the KCC

Korean Film Nights presents four episodes of the television documentary series Modern Korea 2, produced by the KBS television channel. Each episode uses footage selected from the vast KBS archives to create compilation narratives that look back at the social, political, and cultural themes that have marked Korea’s history over the decades. The footage and … [Read More]

Looking back at 2015: Domestic news

Our final look back at 2015: mainly domestic news stories from South Korea. In the news After 62 years of adultery being a criminal offence in the ROK, the constitutional court decided to decriminalise it by a vote of 7 to 2.  Four out of ten married Korean males heaved a sigh of relief  and shares … [Read More]

Looking back at 2014: Domestic news

Our final look back at 2014: mainly domestic news stories from South Korea: The Sewol and safety culture The MV Sewol capsized on 16 April, causing the death of 304 passengers. A number of factors contributed to the disaster, including lax safety inspections, unsafe modifications, unsecured cargo, overloading, and an inexperienced crew hired on temporary … [Read More]

Daewoo, Hyundai and Samsung battle to build the biggest ships

Only two years ago there was the naming ceremony for the world’s largest container ship, the Maersk Triple E built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. At 398m long and with a capacity of 18,270 twenty-foot equivalent containers, the ship had its own website, www.worldslargestship.com. Two days ago, the newest largest container ship, the CSCL … [Read More]

A look back at 2011 – part 3

In the final part of our look back at 2011, we summarise some of the news stories which caught our eye. China This year the region’s biggest economy continued flexing its muscles: it conducted the first test flight of its new stealth fighter, announced that it had deployed stealth missile speedboats in the East China … [Read More]

Hyundai comes to Piccadilly circus

Hyundai is to replace Sanyo in illuminated advertising at Piccadilly Circus http://on.ft.com/kMS6Ec #. It’s a costly place to hire: according to the FT, the deal is “expected to cost the company about £2m ($3.3m) a year. The price is a record for one of the world’s most valuable advertising platforms, and reflects how rarely the … [Read More]

Concert notes: Jeajoon Ryu’s Sinfonia da Requiem

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra orchestra and 90-strong Chorus together with soprano soloist Inhye Kim convened in the Cadogan Hall on 12 April to perform Jeajoon Ryu’s Sinfonia da Requiem (2007). It was composed to honour Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung, who passed away 10 years ago in 2001, and also dedicated to Korea’s past generations, who … [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]