London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

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Selected publications

The Japanese YouTube campaign on Dokdo

Wisely, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has disabled comments on their Dokdo propaganda video uploaded to YouTube a few days ago. Because otherwise they’d be deluged with some pretty hostile feedback. And not just from angry Koreans. The map they provide is downright misleading. To a viewer who knows nothing, it seems perfectly reasonable … [Read More]

Looking back at 2012: DPRK and regional news

In the third of four round-ups of things that caught our eye in 2012, we look back at some of the stories from the DPRK and Seoul’s external relations. DPRK The leadership transition proceeded smoothly, contrary to many observers’ expectations. Kim Jong-un showed that he had inherited his father’s expensive tastes, with a story that … [Read More]

2012 Travel Diary #22: The Burial Grounds of the Royal Joseon Placentas, and why underfloor heating is not always good for you

Sancheong Town, Gyeongsangnam-do, Sunday 1 April 2012. Yes, it’s 1 April, and no, this article is not an April Fool’s joke. Sunday in Sancheong town, and the National Assembly election campaign is in full swing. All along the main street, the ppongtchak trucks are parked nose to tail, probably about eight of them. All of … [Read More]

2012 Travel Diary #19: Beopgyesa Temple and those Japanese feng-shui stakes

Beopgyesa Temple (법게사) is the highest in Sancheong County and at least the third-highest in Korea. The good people of Sancheong believe that Beopgyesa is the highest temple in South Korea, a claim which is supported by Beopgyesa’s entry on the Cultural Heritage Administration website, where the following text is to be found: “It is … [Read More]

Korea and the tsunami

Some links relating to Korea’s response to the Japanese tsunami Korean Entertainers Step Up to Help Japan (Chosun Ilbo) http://bit.ly/dTcArk Even anti-Japan groups join the aid bandwagon – (JoongAng Daily) http://bit.ly/eraCyA Putting aside negative feelings toward Japan – A former comfort woman calls for philanthropic aid to neighbor http://bit.ly/eMcpW3 Quake moves Japan further away from … [Read More]

Film review: Sona, the other myself

The third Asia House Pan-Asian Film Festival offered the opportunity to see an unusual documentary. Yang Yonghi’s Sona, the other myself is a simple portrait of three generations of a family – an elderly ethnic Korean couple living with their daughter (Yang herself) in Osaka, and Yang’s three elder brothers and their children who live … [Read More]

Bae Doo-na named Best Actress

Bae Doo-na has been named Best Actress twice over in Japan for her role in Air Doll, which showed at the London Film Festival last year. Bae will pick up her trophy at the 23rd Takasaki Film Festival on March 28, after claiming her honor at the 33rd Japan Academy Awards on March 5. Source: … [Read More]

The Japanese counter-wave

March’s edition of Seoul magazine has an interesting article discussing how cultural waves do not travel in just one direction. Supporters of Korean culture are keen to point out the unstoppability of the hallyu: Rain in the Philippines, BoA in Japan, Super Junior in China, TV Dramas everywhere (except the UK it seems). Back home, … [Read More]