London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

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Looking back at 2015: Entertainment news

In the second of four retrospective articles, we recall some of the entertainment stories that caught our eye in 2015. We’ve left out a few of the more scurrilous stories. Also, a few sad deaths of people outside the entertainment industry. Entertainment Ode to My Father became the second-biggest box-office hit of all time, boosting … [Read More]

Looking back at 2014: Entertainment news

In the second of four retrospective articles, we recall some of the entertainment stories that caught our eye in 2014. Good year for: Popular TV drama My Love from the Star had an impact beyond its 21 episode span. The lead female character, played by Jeon Ji-hyun, managed to boost sales of trenchcoats in Korea, … [Read More]

Looking back at 2013: Entertainment news

In the third of five retrospective articles, we recall some of the entertainment stories that caught our eye in 2013. Korean box office records were broken in 2013. Korean films accounted for 59.5 percent of box office takings, with the feel-good drama Miracle in Cell 7 gaining 12.8 million admissions. The big new band to … [Read More]

A Japanese take on a Girls Generation video

This has been doing the rounds for a while, but still worth a look: Japanese middle aged men take off SNSD’s Gee MV, led by a member of J-pop boyband SNAP. http://bit.ly/qiCLxB (#) An alternative version is available here: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjk2MDIxNDY4.html. Many versions have been removed from YouTube following a complaint from the Japanese TV company … [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]

Airport management and face cream among highlights for Brulé’s Brand Korea

Last weekend international design guru and Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brulé had an interesting column in the FT, listing out 10 things he likes about Korea. There’s some items which you might expect, and also some surprises. Brulé has rightly waxed lyrical about Incheon Airport before – and coincidentally Incheon has just been awarded the Korea … [Read More]

The Korean Music Awards

The winners of the Korean Music Awards were announced on 30 March. Anna over at Indieful ROK has the complete list. A couple of the winning acts were highlighted by LKL contributors as leading lights of 2009. First, Anna herself voted Apollo 18’s Red Album as her Album of the Year: “the most amazing post-rock … [Read More]