London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

LKL 2012 Quiz of the Year — the answers

The answers to LKL’s 2012 Quiz of the Year. How many did you get? 1 The Watermelon Economy It was Lee Seung-han, the boss of Tesco in Korea, who accused Lee Myung-bak of running a watermelon economy: on the outside, lots of rhetoric about “green” growth, but actually red on the inside. “Not even communist … [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]

Chosun Ilbo’s top K-pop of the year

Here’s their list: Best Album Best Song 1 Vibe: Re-feel Vibe: He & She (equal with Lee Sung-chul) 2 Lee Seung-chul: Reflections of Sound Lee Seung-chul: Shout it out (equal with Vibe) 3 SG Wannabe: 3rd Masterpiece Baek Ji-young: I won’t fall in love again 4 Nell: Healing Process Eru: Black Glasses 5 Sung Si-kyung: … [Read More]

Baek Ji-young: Smile again

(Loen Entertainment, April 2006) It shouldn’t take six playthroughs to enable me to say anything constructive about this album. On first playthrough it made no impression on me whatsoever. Some generic ballad / R&B songs which could come from any of a wide range of Korean artists, and some songs with a Flamenco / Latin … [Read More]