A symposium organised by the SOAS Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy: Games of Change? Sport Diplomacy and the Korean Peninsula Professor David Rowe (Western Sydney University), Dr Simon Rofe (CISD SOAS) 17 July 2019, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM Paul Webley Wing (Senate House) Room S113 The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics has been widely … [Read More]
Tag: Olympics
Selected publications
- Margaret Walker Dilling: Stories inside Stories: Music in the Making of the Korean Olympic Ceremonies, Univ of California Berkeley Institute of East Asian Studies 2007
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]
Exhibition: The Winter Wonders of PyeongChang
News of the KCC’s first exhibition of 2018: The Winter Wonders of PyeongChang Korean Cultural Centre UK | Grand Buildings | 1 – 3 Strand | London WC2N 5BW 10 January – 17 February 2018 The Winter Wonders of PyeongChang is an exhibition presented by UK Sport and the Korean Cultural Centre UK. Opened exactly … [Read More]
A selection of clippings from Rio 2016
1. The ROK team’s opening parade: who’s the foreign-looking chap who can’t tuck his shirt in or do his top button up? 2. The first selfie to go viral — gymnast Lee Eun-Ju (ROK) with Hong Un Jong (DPRK) (photo: Reuters): 3. The first world record of the games – in archery: “South Korean world … [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]
No medals for the BBC’s Sochi closing ceremony coverage
As the Olympic flag was passed from Sochi to the mayor of Pyeongchang, it was time for a brief preview of the 2018 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. The BBC voiceover was done by sports commentator Hazel Irvine, who had been handed a press briefing but no more. Helpfully, she identified that the bird characters on … [Read More]
Yuna is still Queen
Regardless of the controversy, Kim Yuna bowed out with dignity: “The judges give points and I can’t do anything about that,” she is reported as saying. “I did all I wanted to do, like I wanted to do it. … I’m just glad it’s over.” A few relevant links: The Change.org petition: Open Transparent Scores … [Read More]
A reason to watch the Sochi closing ceremony
A reason to watch the closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics as they hand over to Pyeongchang 2018: LKL’s favourite jazz singer Nah Youn Sun will perform Arirang with classical star Jo Sumi and former Boohwal lead singer Lee Seung-cheol. Sounds like a variation on President Park’s inauguration ceremony. Source: Chosun Ilbo You can … [Read More]
The London Korean Links Awards 2012
The seventh eclectic and highly personal commemoration of the best of the past year. Personality of the Year Runner up There were plenty of personalities in the South Korean Olympic team, particularly the pistol shooters, archers and the gymnasts. But the athlete that everyone will remember is fencer Shin A-lam, cheated out of a place … [Read More]
A London 2012 Korean Olympic round-up
Here are some of the highlights and headlines from the past two weeks or so of Korean athletes at the London 2012 Olympics: 25 July North Korea’s Olympic women’s football team walked off the pitch for an hour at their opening London 2012 match tonight after organisers mistakenly introduced the players using South Korea’s flag. … [Read More]
Im Kwon-taek visits London for the Olympics
As part of the VIP delegation visiting from Seoul to launch Korea’s bid for Olympic glory in London 2012, a surprise dignitary was legendary film director Im Kwon-taek. I first caught sight of him at the Korea Shining Bright event at the Victoria and Albert Museum on Monday night, 30 July. I wondered if I … [Read More]
Needles and a mouth organ at Team Korea House
Yes, there have been K-pop flashmobs, dancing robots, traditional music performances and comedy magic shows at Team Korea House. There has even been a live radio show broadcast from there, with presenters dressed in royal hanbok. Last Saturday (4 August) was the final performance by Dulsori before they head off to Germany. They opened with … [Read More]
Monocle 24 broadcasts from Team Korea House
Live from Team Korea House, London, Monocle 24 hears from the CEO of the Korea Tourism Association, enjoys K-pop, and is joined by acupuncture expert Sena Lee. All to celebrate the Olympics. http://londonkoreanlinks.net/wp-content/uploads/audio/11000199.mp3 The K-pop interview is at 18’00” Sena is at 23’35” Philip is at 52’00” [Read More]
LKL’s editor and Traditional Korean Medicine specialist on live radio
I haven’t been so nervous in a long time. I got the call from the Korean Tourism Organisation this morning – “please come along to Team Korea House to do an interview on live radio this evening.” I thought it might be good training for an interview with Arirang’s Morning Call programme I might be … [Read More]
Kim Soo-myun: no joy in the men’s gymnastics individual all-round finals
It was Tuesday evening before I could settle down to watch the men’s gymnastics finals – individual all round. It had already been a day of controversy for the Koreans in Badminton and there was disappointment yesterday with the fencing, so I hoped Kim Soo-myun would do well for his country. Not in the top … [Read More]
Korean badminton pairs – bad losers?
The two South Korean badminton teams kicked out of the games for trying to lose their matches – against Chinese and Indonesian pairs who were also trying to lose – both ended up winning. (Source – FT) [Read More]