I’m glad no-one volunteered to chaparone me round the music clubs of the Hongdae area last night. I wouldn’t have had half so much fun. For starters, if you’re with someone else or with a group of people, you have to go at the speed of the most vocal or you probably end up staying … [Read More]
Place: South Korea (page 28)
ARCO 2007: a Huge Korean festival in Madrid this February
Just received from the organisers of ARCO 2007 in Madrid. Film, music, dance, literature and of course contemporary art. To call it a feast undersells it. And that’s not all: this is just the stuff they know about already. There’s some other stuff they haven’t finalised. I haven’t taken all this in yet, but I … [Read More]
Happy New Year to all our readers
In London: In Seoul: [Read More]
A Happy Christmas to all our readers
Some seasonal snaps from London and Seoul First, Trafalgar Square and Regent Street during December 2006, from UK Student Life. And now December 2005 in Seoul, from Zofona. If anyone knows where the scenes are, leave a comment below. And finally, the light display currently gracing Seoul Plaza, entitled Luce Vista: [Read More]
Kings College Choir in Seoul
I’d be interested to hear if any Seoulites who happen to visit this site went to hear the King’s College Choir at the Seoul Arts Centre on Saturday. Not cheap, at up to 120,000 won per ticket. Part of the magic of King’s is the acoustic of the chapel itself and the very English sound … [Read More]
Seoul’s hanoks
There was a feature in FT a couple of weeks ago on the Bukchon district of Seoul. It’s a place as far as you can get from Apgujeong in terms of style of living. It’s the sort of place where Kim Ki-duk might be caught filming traditional housing as seen in 3-Iron, and is inhabited … [Read More]
Brit mobilises the arts to save part of old Seoul
Thanks to David Kilburn for sending me the occasional update on his campaign to prevent Kahoi-dong, an area of traditional housing in Seoul, from being buried under mountains of concrete. He recently put on his own arts festival in his home, including two intangible cultural assets, and got the Korea Times to send along a … [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]
Seoul the most expensive city after Moscow
A story from the Chosun Ilbo from a few weeks ago. I know from experience (the paying end, rather than the receiving end, more’s the pity) that expat employees are a good deal more expensive than locals. It’s all the additional perks. Who knows, maybe some of the costs which make Moscow top of the … [Read More]
Boryeong mud festival
What is it about the mud festival, which just finished this last Saturday in Boryeong? I see it mentioned in Seoul magazine as one of the highlights of the Korean cultural calendar, on the Seoul Selection website, and this week it’s been in the Chosun Ilbo and on the Yonhap site. Is it really a … [Read More]
In love with Seoul
I’m pretty sure the FT’s coverage of Korean affairs has increased both in quality and quantity over the past year. For example, they were the only western paper I noticed that covered the publication of the annual profits of the foreign banks operating in Seoul — data only available in Korean on the financial regulator’s … [Read More]
Seoul’s redevelopment and the erosion of Gahoedong
At the London Korean Festival we’ve been treated to images of the revitalisation and greening of central Seoul, with displays of the Chonggyecheon reconstruction. However, there is an all-too-familiar flipside to modern construction projects: my attention has just been drawn to a website which catalogues the demolition of Seoul’s last few streets of traditional housing … [Read More]
Gi-Wook Shin & Kyung-moon Hwang (eds): Contentious Kwangju
(Rowman & Littlefield, 2003) Varied collection of articles on the subject of Korea’s Tiananmen Square incident, ranging from the eyewitness account to academic reassessment. The people of Kwangju: innocent victims or resistance heroes? Discuss. Links: Bibliography of the Kwangju Uprising (in English) – at Popular Gusts [Read More]
Yi Chong-jun: Your paradise
A puzzling story about the struggles of successive managers of a leper colony to improve the lot of the lepers. I think the Complete Review shares my puzzlement. One of the best-selling novels of 20th Century Korean literature, originally published in 1976. Yi Chong-jun: Your paradise. (Green Integer, 2004) Translated by Jennifer Lee, Timothy R. … [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]