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]
People: Park Ji-sung
Park Ji-sung renews his Manchester United contract
Park Ji-sung will be staying at Manchester United for a bit; but earning rather less than Rooney. http://t.co/iIGD2Mn # [Read More]
Oh Captain, My Captain – a farewell to Park Ji-sung
Aashish Gadhvi waves an emotional goodbye to the captain marvel, Park Ji-sung. The Asian Cup brought an end to many things. It brought an end to Korea’s hopes of claiming the Asian Cup for the first time since hosting the tournament in 1960. It brought about the end of legendary left back Lee Young-pyo’s career … [Read More]
Choco Pies get celebrity endorsement
Choco Pies get celebrity endorsement at Man Utd http://bit.ly/ehYhvR #. Park Ji-sung is handing them out to Rio Ferdinand @mathmaster86. Tell KimKapsoo to send the sweets to me bro! I ran out of the Korean sweets that I got from Park Ji Sung! Me+my kids ate them — Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) December 11, 2010 [Read More]
Ki Sung-yueng and Racism in the British Game
A few weeks ago I was interviewed by a young talented Korea photographer – Daewoong Kim, studying here in London. Daewoong, being interested in photography and football wanted to discuss my experiences interviewing Korean footballers and working within BBC Sport. Needless to say this is the first (and probably last!) time I have been interviewed, … [Read More]
S Korea v Ivory Coast: interviews with Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo
Aashish Gadhvi managed to interview two key members of the South Korean world cup squad after the match with Ivory Coast last week: Lee Young-pyo, formerly of Tottenham Hotspur: and probably Korea’s best known player, Park Ji-sung: No subtitles this time: both interviews are in English. This wraps up LKL’s coverage of the South Korea … [Read More]
Korean Links in Manchester
Beccy Kennedy, PhD candidate in contemporary Asian art at MIRIAD, and LKL’s visual arts correspondent, writes to remind us that London is not the only place in the UK to get your fix of Korean culture. If you don’t already live here and have ever felt like paying a visit to Britain’s birthplace of the … [Read More]
The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007 – part 2
Here’s #11-20, in reverse order: #20: Tottenham Hotspur’s Lee Young-pyo: #19: 1970s Seoul: #18: The first appearance of top K-pop star BoA, in her campaign for Olympus: #17: Shinhan Bank’s Manchester United Credit Card: #16: The cover image from Kyung-Hyun Kim’s heavyweight book on Korean Cinema — a still from Peppermint Candy: #15: Robot Taekwon … [Read More]
Korean football in crisis?
Aashish Gadhvi has some issues to get off his chest about the state of Korean football. Its time to face facts, people. The golden generation is finished. The players are all overpaid, high-ego celebrities with more money than talent. The fans don’t get behind the team and no manager in their right mind would take … [Read More]
The financial pulling power of Korea’s soccer stars
Readers may recall that during this year’s World Cup I spotted a couple of news items reporting how Korean banks were using football to get in new business. But it’s not just the national team which pulls in the financial punters. Park Ji-sung, the sportsman with the biggest brand power in Korea, has been used … [Read More]