What can one say about a movie that has won Best Picture at Cannes and the Oscars, that has won best screenplay at the Oscars and BAFTAs, best edited drama feature at the Eddies, and best ensemble performance at the Screen Actors Guild? A movie that has been seen more widely in this country, and … [Read More]
Tag: Dokdo
Selected publications
- Kan Kimura: The Burden of the Past: Problems of Historical Perception in Japan-Korea Relations tr Marie Speed, University of Michigan Press 2019
The LKL quiz of the year 2017
I’m currently going through my 2017 press cuttings and trying to make sense of them, in the hope that as in (some) previous years I’ll be able to pull together a series of posts summarising some of the most newsworthy stories of the year. In case I don’t manage to get that done (after all, … [Read More]
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]
Which is bigger: Gangnam Style or Dokdo?
There’s been an awful lot of Korean stuff going on this year. In the UK, All Eyes on Korea, Korea putting up a good showing in the Olympics, Im Kwon Taek in town, Lee Byung hun and BIGBANG coming soon, a huge art show at the Saatchi… and everywhere you turn there’s a certain rapper … [Read More]
Dokdo, Historical Awareness, and Korea-Japan Relations
I do like a good argument. I remember a couple of years ago a Japanese diplomat gave a very informative talk at Chatham House about Korea-Japan relations. But there was a Korean in the audience with strong views and the Q&A degenerated into a heated debate about Dokdo. There’s been rather too much in the … [Read More]
Japanese app offers fluffy solution to Dokdo issue
You can claim Dokdo for Korea in a free mobile phone app, in which 독도 토끼 swims across the East Sea to get there before his Japanese equivalent. You can play Takeshima Struggle (yes, it’s a Japanese app) on a Samsung Galaxy S, but not on an iPhone: it’s Android only. Source / further info: … [Read More]
Japanese invaders colonise Dokdo
This month’s Korea.net magazine features Dokdo, but in cataloguing the island’s human and plant inhabitants, the magazine reveals five species with suspiciously Japanese-sounding names that have a firm foothold on the Korean islands. In the plant world, there’s Artemisia japonica var. macrocephala Pampan and Rumex japonicus Houttuyn (both ominously said to be “spreading quickly these … [Read More]
How not to make yourself popular with Korean smartphone users
According to the Marmot’s Hole, the map app of the recently revealed beta version IOS6 apparently has Dokdo registered as Takeshima. Oops! [Read More]
A look back at 2011 – part 3
In the final part of our look back at 2011, we summarise some of the news stories which caught our eye. China This year the region’s biggest economy continued flexing its muscles: it conducted the first test flight of its new stealth fighter, announced that it had deployed stealth missile speedboats in the East China … [Read More]
Two recent low-lights in Korea-related publishing
Two recent books to avoid: Kimchi-flavored erotica? “In Deep Kimchi” on Amazon: http://amzn.to/fB5KfN. Looks totally dreadful, particularly as it seems to be about sex with a J-pop band #. Via KTLit.com. Charles Montgomery says a new book on Dokdo Thirty Three Shouts is “A Complete Waste of Time http://bit.ly/i6RIUT # [Read More]
Another Sun: It’s educational, but it’s not for foreigners
I was chatting to my companion during the interval of Another Sun, the big-budget Korean musical, at Sadlers Wells last night. “It’s educational,” she said, “but I don’t think it’s for foreigners.” I pressed her on the educational point. The plot of the musical is said to be based on the Korean foundation myth about … [Read More]
DPRK embassy e-bulletin 7 April 2006: Dokdo
The text of a release circulated by the DPRK Embassy in London yesterday: DPRK Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman Slams Japan’s Claim to Tok Islet Pyongyang, April 6 (KCNA) — A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry in a statement issued on April 6 accused the Japanese authorities of recently allowing the description of Tok Islet as … [Read More]