London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

The redemptive power of Lee Young-ae

As we all know, Jewel in the Palace is a hit in many countries. It’s watched all around the world. Including in Indian jails. A convict in India has sent a letter of gratitude to a top Korean network for airing the historical drama “Jewel in the Palace,” or “Daejanggeum” in Korean. Narendra Kumar Sharma, … [Read More]

Some Lee Young-ae videos

I’ve been feeling guilty about not meeting the needs of all those people who come to this site looking for articles about the lovely Lee Young-ae and not finding very much. Having done a few searches on YouTube I’m amazed at the dedication of fans who create tributes to their favourite star. Here’s a small … [Read More]

Chuseok at the BM — part sprint, part marathon

It is a commonplace observation that Korea is caught between two larger neighbours. Similarly, in marketing terms, the Korean events at the British Museum last Saturday were dwarfed by the blitzkrieg advertising for the Chinese “First Emperor” and the Japanese modern design exhibitions, both also at the British Museum at the same time. But although … [Read More]

The Grand Culture Project

At the SOAS / AKS conference on 26 June, the talk by Kim Hyeon, Associate Professor of Cultural Informatics at the Academy of Korean Studies, had the title “the Korean Wave, Cultural Content and Cultural Informatics”. “What on earth is Cultural Informatics?” I hear you ask. You would not be alone. But read on. The … [Read More]

A hallyu tourism research project in Leeds

A reader at ukfan’s DJG Comic Relief forum is doing a research project on Dae Jang Geum. He’s a PhD researcher at Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change at Leeds Metropolitan University. As part of this he needs your help to perfect a cultural survey. The survey can be found here. Please email it to … [Read More]

Jumong a bright spot in media industry gloom

The Chosun recently reported a gloomy picture of the earnings of the Korean film industry. As Jon Pais speculated over at Twitch in November last year, Even if production costs stabilized, as the number of films increases, decreased profitability is inevitable. But production costs are soaring and don’t show any signs of slowing down. In … [Read More]