A while ago we noticed an article in the Korean press which suggested people in Jeju-do were unhappy about Chinese being allowed to drive rental cars on the island when on vacation. I wondered what it was that concerned them. Then, the other day, I came across this article in H’s Week in China publication, … [Read More]
Place: South Korea (page 8)
Looking back at 2014: Domestic news
Our final look back at 2014: mainly domestic news stories from South Korea: The Sewol and safety culture The MV Sewol capsized on 16 April, causing the death of 304 passengers. A number of factors contributed to the disaster, including lax safety inspections, unsafe modifications, unsecured cargo, overloading, and an inexperienced crew hired on temporary … [Read More]
Looking back at 2014: Culture, sport and tourism
In the first of four articles looking back over 2014, we recall some of the culture, sports and heritage stories that made the news. Arts Dansaekhwa emerged as flavour of the year. Following the MMCA exhibition in 2013 and Joan Kee’s book, Kukje Gallery had a monochrome retrospective, and dansaekhwa artists were included in MMCA … [Read More]
The Doctor Who World Tour in Korea
BBC3 have just put out a short programme (the sort of thing you get as an added extra in a DVD boxed set) featuring the World Tour that took place in August 2014 to launch Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor. There’s about 4 minutes of footage of their stopover in Seoul, around 13 minutes … [Read More]
Top 10 restaurants in Seocho and Gangnam
I try to avoid Gangnam and Seocho if I possibly can, other than as the location of the Nambu bus terminal. But at least now if I do get stuck there The Culture Trip has provided a list of the top 10 restaurants in the area. [Read More]
Festival film review: Bitter, Sweet, Seoul
Bitter, Sweet, Seoul is an ambitious crowd-sourced project in which people from around the world were invited by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to submit videos which would be made into feature length film. Directors (and brothers) Park Chan-wook and Park Chan-kyong (collectively PARKing CHANce) were commissioned to organise the submissions, attracted to the project by … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Constancy and Change in Korean Traditional Craft
Nothing prepared you for the sight that greeted you when you entered the room containing the Korean crafts at Tent London. As you were wandering past the various stalls in the main part of the exhibition displaying contemporary crafts from around the world on your way to the “Constancy and Change” room, you might have … [Read More]
Burberry – the favoured brand of Korean flashers
In the last decade, British fashion brand Burberry manage to rescue itself from the chav associations caused by too liberal licensing of its check design to companies it couldn’t control. But you can’t control the use to which a raincoat is put. And according to the Hankyoreh: Burberry coats have long been sought after in … [Read More]
Hong Seong-dam’s art in the news again
In 2012 his unflattering painting of President-elect Park got the ruling party annoyed; now Hong Seong-nam is in the news again for lampooning Park’s response to the Sewol disaster in an exhibition linked to the Gwangju Biennale. It’s difficult to know precisely what has been going on in Gwangju from the snippets that make it … [Read More]
If aliens landed in Gyeongnam, would they think Koreans worshipped the turtle?
Looking back at some of my travel photos, I can’t help but notice the prominence of turtles in the south of the peninsula. The symbolism of the turtle is explained briefly in the Life in Korea website as follows: While the dragon was considered the ruler of all animals, the turtle ruled over the insects. … [Read More]
In pictures: the Doctor Who roadshow comes to Seoul
In connection with a publicity screening of episode 1 of series 8 in Seoul on 9 August, the Beeb is running a little promotional campaign involving the Tardis. Here’s a sample of the photos from the hashtag #tardisinseoul. You can also try the hashtag #타디스인서울 or #닥터후. Download your own tardis here to cut out … [Read More]
Gangnam’s Sherlock-themed cafe
Check out Giacomo Lee’s post about a Sherlock-themed coffee shop in Gangnam called 221B. You can even order an Eggs Benedict to go with your Sherlock Coffee. Great attention to detail. Link: Gangnam’s Sherlock Themed Cafe, Medium.com, 4 July [Read More]
Latest UNESCO listings break the stereotypes
A famine-ridden state that spends all its money on its army and its nukes; and a country that builds a green city and restores its rivers… Those are the stereotypes. Yet it’s the North that has just had a biosphere reserve registered at UNESCO, while the South’s latest registration is an impressive piece of military … [Read More]
2012 Travel Diary #23: Mun Ik-jeom: dutiful son and smuggler of cotton seeds
Sancheong County, Gyeongsangnam-do, Sunday 1 April 2012. Mun Ik jeom (문익점, 文益漸) was a rare individual who was honoured by the kings of two royal dynasties, first by King U of Goryeo and second by the great Joseon King Sejong. The honour received from Sejong was posthumous, and was in recognition of what started, in … [Read More]
Namhansanseong joins Suwon fortress on UNESCO World Heritage list
South Korea’s eleventh listing on the UNESCO World Heritage list is Namhansanseong. It was added to the list at the end of a 10 day meeting of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee at Doha on 25 June. According to the summary on the UNESCO website: Namhansanseong was designed as an emergency capital for the Joson dynasty … [Read More]
2014 Travel Diary day 10: two art museums and a reality show
In which we have our customary day visiting the contemporary art museums. Eulji-ro, Seoul, Sunday 15 June, 9am. For the first time in recent memory I haven’t scheduled in a trip to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Gwacheon this visit. And that’s because, since the last visit, the big construction project on … [Read More]