London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

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Selected publications

Jeju’s destiny is set in stone

Darren Southcott, recently returned from a stint in Jeju-do, appreciates one of the island’s unique attractions: Jeju Stone Park In this age of globalisation, authentic Korea may seem elusive and challenging for the visitor to find, but there are many sites which seek to preserve the nation’s cultural spirit. Jeju Island, despite heavy tourist development, … [Read More]

Visit Korea, experience the Cold War

Coming to the Travel Channel this autumn is a new travel documentary on Korea. At the Korea Tourism evening at the KCC last week we were given a preview. It was refreshing: a Korean tourism documentary, but from a Westerner’s perspective. Yes, we were told that the KTO assisted in the film’s production, but the … [Read More]

The divers of Jeju-do

LKL digests Barbara Hammer’s documentary “Diving Women of Jeju-do”, which screened in a recent film festival in London. Barbara Hammer’s brief documentary Diving Women of Jeju-do (2007) provides an intimate portrait of Cheju-do’s famous diving women, the haenyo. Barbara Hammer goes diving with the women, and took trouble to get to know their ways. She … [Read More]

The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007: the top 10

Here’s the top ten. And probably not all that work-safe. #10: The second appearance of LKL’s favourite ex-playboy model, Lee Sabi (806 views): #9: The Chejudo Love Land theme park (884): #8: Sassy girl and last vampire Jeon Ji-hyun displaying her smooth thighs as a rock chick (969): #7: Pop diva, CF queen and all-round … [Read More]

Jeju, the love island

We all knew that Cheju-do was a holiday destination for honeymooners. What I didn’t know until Thursday’s feature in Der Spiegel was that there’s an informative theme park for honeymooners to get some inspiration. There’s some great pictures, one of which is shown left. The theme park has been around for a while. Here’s a … [Read More]

Memories of Mokseokwon

Fond memories of a visit to Mokseokwon (목석원) sculpture park in Chejudo. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Baek Un-Ch’ol, who has masterminded the park. The main exhibits in the park are interesting pieces of driftwood, which Mr Baek has spent a lifetime collecting. He could earn a fortune by flogging them off … [Read More]