London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

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Selected publications

Soup and Ideology: Yang Yonghi’s exploration of the Jeju 4:3 incident through her own family history

It must be a nightmare living with Yang Yonghi: you are constantly being filmed. Yang’s work focuses on her family history, and she has been collecting footage of her daily life since the mid ’90s. When the individual scenes are filmed – conversations, family meals, seemingly unremarkable incidents – the filming must seem without purpose. … [Read More]

Documentary screening: Soup and Ideology

After suffering an aneurysm, Yang Yonghi’s mother starts revealing tragic memories of her fleeing Korea during the Jeju incident in 1948. The Japanese-born filmmaker begins to piece together her present and her mother’s past, whom she visits in Osaka every month with her Japanese fiancé. They bond through cooking and tradition, despite their ideological differences … [Read More]

Brief book review: Suni Samchon

Hyun Ki-young: Suni Samchon Translated by Lee Jung-hi Asia Publishers Bilingual Edition, 2012, 186pp Jeju Island, in Korean literature of the late 70s and 80s, is not the honeymoon destination of more recent years. It was a place of poverty, of bitter memories – a place to escape from rather than a destination to visit … [Read More]

Book review: Hwang Sun-won — Lost Souls

Hwang Sun-won: Lost Souls Translated by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton Columbia University Press 2010, 354pp Having quite enjoyed two of Hwang Sun-won’s fuller-length stories – Trees on a Slope and Descendants of Cain – though without necessarily being enamoured of the characters of the stories they inhabited, I was looking forward to tackling Lost Souls, … [Read More]

Im Heung-soon: Jeju Prayer, Symptom and Sign

The most substantial work in the final session of experimental film screenings at the Tate in September 2015 was Im Heung-soon’s Sung Si (숭 시 – Jeju Symptom and Sign. 2011, HD Video, colour, sound, 24mins), a work which obliquely addresses the 4:3 incident and the Gangjeong naval base. The piece has been made into … [Read More]

Free Screening of “Reiterations of Dissent”

After the successful screening of the Sewol political documentary last month, there’s a screening this month on another contentious issue: the 4:3 Jeju Uprising: Reiterations of Dissent (거듭되는 항거) Dir Jane Jin Kaisen 2011 South Korea/Denmark, 59 minutes Language: Korean & English, Subtitles: English Free screening followed by a Skype discussion with the director 21 … [Read More]

Ghosts of Jeju to get another London screening

Eighteen months ago there was a screening of this documentary about the 4:3 incident also known as the Jeju Massacre. There’s now an opportunity to see it again at a deli in Deptford on 27 April as part of the Free Film Festival. Free event. No ticket required, but capacity is only 40 so get … [Read More]

The Ghosts of Jeju to screen at SOAS

Those who are eager to watch Jiseul (and here’s hoping it will be getting a London screening soon) will want to watch this documentary to fill in some of the background. It also provides context to the protests about the Gangjeong naval base. The Ghosts of Jeju Dir: Regis Tremblay, 2013, 80 mins Brunei Gallery, … [Read More]

Jiseul – a film to watch out for in 2013

It won awards at Busan where it premiered in the 2012 festival, and it will be showing at Sundance and Rotterdam: Jiseul (지슬) – a sombre film about the 1948 Jeju Uprising, written and directed by Jeju resident O Muel (오멸). It might not be an easy film to watch, but it’s an important part … [Read More]

2011 Travel Diary day 7: Baek Un-cheol and Seolmundae Halmang: a lifetime’s obsession with stones and their stories

Jeju Stone Park, Friday 6 May 2011. “I fell in love with Seolmundae Halmang, and now I can’t love any other woman” says Baek Un-cheol, honorary director of Jeju Stone Park. Maybe it explains why he is single. No earthly woman can compete in his affections with the legendary earth mother and creator of Jejudo. … [Read More]

Book review: Kim Sok-pom — The Curious Tale of Mandogi’s Ghost

Kim Sok-pom: The Curious Tale of Mandogi’s Ghost Translated by Cindi Textor Columbia University Press, 2010 (114pp) Originally published in Japanese, 1970. What seems to be new entrant in the Korean literature in translation market is more complicated than it first seems. The author, Kim Sok-pom, is actually a second-generation zainichi Korean resident in Japan, … [Read More]