Here is the provisional agenda:

Monday, September 8, 2008

15.00 to 17.30: Arrival and Registration
18.00: Drinks reception
19.00 for 19.30: Dinner
21.00: Keynote Speech, Professor Meredith Jung-en Woo, University of Virginia. Title: “Korea’s Free Trade: The Highest Stage of Industrial Policy”

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

9.00 to 10.30: Panel One, Plenary: Political and Security Developments on the Korean Peninsula
Ambassador Chun Yung-Woo *, ROK Ambassador to the UK;
Ambassador Warwick Morris *, former UK Ambassador to the ROK;
Dr James Hoare, former UK Charge d’affaires, Pyongyang, former chairman of BAKS

10.30 to 11.30: Coffee break

11.00 to 12.30 Panel Two: The Two Koreas, Strategy & Ideology
Choi Jong-kyun, University of Reading: Strategic Relations on the Korean Peninsula since 1948: Strategic Culture as Commonality and Difference
Dr Tim Beal, Victoria University of Wellington: The Koreas’ Search for International Legitimacy
Johannes Gerschewski, German Institute of Global and Area Studies: An Analysis of North Korea’s Historical Development from the Viewpoint of a New Ideology-Oriented Framework of Totalitarianism

12.30 to 14.00 Lunch

14.00 to 15.30 Panel Three: Politics and Policy in South Korea
Dr Kim Young-mi, University of Edinburgh: Party system, regionalism and the Debate over the Electoral Law in South Korea
Dr John DiMoia, National University of Singapore: Challenging Nationalist Historiography, Lee Tae-kyu and the Origins of a South Korea Scientific Community, 1948-1971
Dr Antonio Fiori, University of Florence: Authoritarian Regimes and Social Policy in Korea: Crisis and Compensation

15.30 to 15.45 Coffee break

15.45 to 18.15 Panel Four: Film and the Formation of Korean Identities
Jeon Yong-Woog, University of Cambridge: From victimization towards humour: Zainichi identities in Film
Oh Sung-ji, Korean Film Archive: Korean film in the late colonial/wartime era.
Dr Mark Morris, University of Cambridge: ‘Jayu mansei’ (Hurrah for Freedom): Korean Film at Liberation
Kim Chung-kang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Suturing the ‘Defiance’: South Korean Youth Film (1963-1966) Sueyoung Park-Primiano, New York University: The Emergence of South Korean Cinema in the Postwar Era, 1945-1960: De Facto Liberation and the Writing of a New Identity

18.30 Pre-dinner drinks

19.00 Dinner
21.00 Annual General Meeting, BAKS
21.30 Film Showing: Springtime on the Peninsula (Pando-ŭi pom, 1941)

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

9.00 to 10.30 Panel Five: Literature & Language
Dr Pokholkova Ekaterina: Moscow State Linguistic University: Russian and South Korean Linguistic Approaches to Terminology
Choi Minkoo, University of Hawaii: The Discourse of Free love, the New Woman and Modernity in Cheya (Night in Seclusion)
Dr Jo Elfving-Hwang, University of Leeds: Encountering the Unspoken Other in South Korean ‘Division Literature’

10.30 to 11.00 Coffee break

11.00 to 12. 30 Panel Six: Anthropological & Cultural Perspectives
Kim Jeehun, University of Oxford: Flexible Transnational Families? A Case Study on Korean Professional Migrant Families in Singapore
Hong Jiyeon, Edinburgh College of Art: Guje Style: Fashion Consumption beyond Second-hand Clothes

Conference Ends

* To be confirmed

This week’s screening at the KCC is Kim Ji-woon’s (김지운) stylish suspense / horror flick Tale of Two Sisters (2003). (7 August, 7pm)

Kim’s filmography is varied and of a high quality. He started with comedy - the macabre Quiet Family (1998) and the hugely fun Foul King (2000), and now seems to be in an action / thriller phase, with the post-Oldboy gangster noir Bittersweet Life (2005) and this year’s most anticipated film, “Manchurian western” The Good the Bad and the Weird (2008), which was such a hit at Cannes and which hopefully will be coming to London later this year. In between was his rather gruesome contribution to Three Extremes (2002), and possibly one of Korea’s most successful Ring-style ghost / horror films, which is the KCC’s choice.

Like many of Kim’s films, production values are high, and a lot of attention is paid to the cinematography. The scene is set in a western-style house, strangely dark, oppressive and Victorian in feel. Rich colours and subdued lighting give a slightly eerie quality. There’s enough scary things happening during the course of the film to keep the tension high, plus a satisfying denouement which makes you want to go back over the film in your mind to see if everything makes sense in hindsight.

The two sisters are played by everyone’s favourite younger sister Moon Geun Young (문근영) and Cyborg star Im Su-jeong (임수정). The father is Kim Kap-su (김갑수) and the menacing stepmother is played by Yeom Jeong-ah (염정아). Highly recommended.

Links

• Review at Dragon’s Den
• Register at the KCC

Full details here.

A bit beyond me I’m afraid. I’m still struggling with my counting words.

First, someone claiming to be a North Korean is seeking help to move some cash which I’m sure the Dear Leader would prefer is used for more constructive purposes:

Greetings

Hello I am delighted to have this opportunity to introduce myself to you. My name is Bang (IN) Hwang; I am from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). I had been working for EMC in Korea and recently in Koryo bank, Pyongyang, North Korea as a branch manager. While I was in Koryo bank, I remitted the sum of $9.5 Million to my secret bank account in Japan. But the funds were supposedly paid by Kim Jong-il to a chinese shipping company for transporting illegal weapons to North Korea. In fact, the bank does weapons transactions and money laundering operations of Kim Jong-il. I escaped through the chinese border when it was discovered that the funds did not get to the shipping company. Now I cannot return to North Korea since I had stepped on the toes of Kim Jong-il. I’m think of moving the funds to a bank account abroad for a profitable investment. Please let me know if you can be of assistance.

Best regards, Hwang Bang

Second, an attempt to ensnare the late Pastor Bae Hyun-Kyu, by leaving a comment ^[1] on one of my posts about the Afghan missionaries. I am always puzzled by how people think that, if they leave a comment below an article about a particular person, that person will read their message. This phenomenon is most commonly found on posts about celebrities, where fans leave messages asking the celeb to contact them.

Dearest In The Lord:

I am [name withheld] from Kuwait. I married to late [name withheld] who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for nine years before he died in the year 2004.We were married for eleven years with out a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.

Before his death we were both born again Christian. Since his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husban was alive he deposited a box containing the sum of three Million five houndred thausand Dollars in one of the security company here in Abidjan..

Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next Eight months due to cancer problem. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to a church that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church or Individual that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, propagating the word of God and to endeavor the house of God is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that “Blessed is the hand that giveth”. I took this decision because I don’t have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don’t want my husband’s efforts to be used by unbelievers.

I don’t want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that “the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I don’t need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband’s relatives around me always. I don’t want them to know about this development.

With God all things are possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the security company. I will also issue you an authorisation letter that will prove you the present beneficiary of this fund. I want you and the church to always pray for me because the lord is my shephard. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that Wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and Truth.

Please always continue your prayers upon me. Contact me on this email address any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another church for this same purpose. Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I Stated herein. Hoping to receive your reply.
Remain blessed in the Lord.
Yours in Christ,
[Name and email address withheld]

1. Which I didn’t approve

T-Entertainment, March 2006

Rollercoaster’s fifth album was released in 2006, after a gap of 2 years since the almost flawless fourth. Gone is the sense of rhythmic drive, of energy, of joie de vivre. Instead we have something a bit more laid back, less characterful. I had been warned that the fifth album was a disappointment after the band’s previous efforts, but being a completist I decided to search it out anyway. My adviser was right. While the music is pleasant enough, it doesn’t really justify getting out the credit card if you already have their previous albums.

Here’s a video of the fourth track, 숨길 수 없어요 (Can’t hide it)

Links

• Buy Rollercoaster Triangle at YesAsia

Thanks to Aidan FC for pointing out an article on the Yonhap website yesterday, about two North Korean refugees who were jailed after having been caught working on a cannabis farm in Southport.

The source of the story was Radio Free Asia, who reported that one of the pair had previously been “offered a job growing plants for £220 a week, plus free accommodation and food, while working at a Korean grocery store in New Malden.”

About 850 people presumed to be North Korean defectors reside in Britain, among whom 450 or more have applied for refugee status. A total of 130 North Korean defectors were granted refugee status in Britain last year, but all of them had already obtained South Korean citizenship, according to a report by the U.S.-based radio broadcaster Voice of America.

The defectors are said to have chosen to live in Britain after failing to adapt to life in South Korea.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, 245 North Koreans applied for asylum in the UK, though according to a recent parliamentary written answer only one or two applications have been granted (the answer isn’t clear as to what period this covers). There are suspicions that many of the applicants are actually ethnic Koreans from the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture in China.

Links:

• Two N. Korean defectors in Britain jailed after caught at cannabis farm, Yonhap, 2 August 2008
• Home Office asylum statistics
• Overseas student statistics at theyworkforyou.com

As a fan of Clazziquai, I wish I could be more enthusiastic about the first solo outing of one of its members, the male vocalist Alex. On the plus side, he has a mellow, well-controlled voice, very pleasant to listen to. And he has a reasonably distinguished line-up of guest stars. And that’s about where it ends. An endless stream of undistinguished compositions utilising most of the tired cliches of the Korean ballad / lounge / slow pop genre. A well performed collection, but ultimately a bit pointless.

Links

• Buy My Vintage Romance at YesAsia

Exhibitions

• Cantilever Left continues at I-MYU until 9 August. There will be a different exhibition starting soon after.
• Psycho Buildings continues at the Hayward Gallery until 25 August.
• The U_Design City_Seoul exhibition continues at the KCC until 2 August, then is replaced by Vessels, an exhibition of contemporary Korean and British ceramics, from 12 August
• Some of David Heather’s North Korean art collection makes its way to the Cooper Gallery in Barnsley, on display in an exhibition called Art for the State, from 23 August

Festivals

• The Edinburgh Fringe is in full swing, with lots of Korean physical theatre and other goodies. If any reader wishes to write in with reviews of any of the performances, do feel free.
• There’s a one-off performance on 17 August showcasing a selection of the Korean talent. 11:00-12:30 at Rocket@Roxy Art House, 2 Roxborough Place, Edinburgh EH8 9SU (Venue 115)

Film

• Seven Days screens as part of the Asia House Festival of Asian Film at the Renoir in Brunswick Square on 23 August.
• Korea’s surprise hit of the year, The Chaser, also screens on 23 August as part of Frightfest at Odeon West End in Leicester Square. The two screenings unfortunately overlap. Unless you’re desperate to see Chaser as soon as possible, go to see Seven Days, because the Chaser will get a theatrical release in September. Alternatively, you can see Seven Days at the KCC on the 22nd (see below)
• A Tale of Two Sisters screens at the KCC on 7 August, while if you elect to see Chaser on 23 August you can catch Seven Days at the KCC on Friday 22 August (note the day). The KCC screenings are free, but the seats will be more comfortable at the Renoir. Take your pick.

Music

• The Suwon Civic Chorale performs in Lincoln Cathedral on Friday 22 August together with other top choirs such as the Orlando Consort. The Suwon choir will then come to Kingston and perform at All Saints Church on 24 August.

Academia

• A linguistics conference will be held at SOAS, 7-9 August.
• Lucien Brown, who’s leading the language classes at the KCC, will talk about Korean Honorifics: their form and usage on 19 August at the KCC
• Don’t forget the BAKS conference in Cambridge next month.

Let me know of any omissions.

Psycho Buildings

Suh’s work has in the past explored aspects of identity, from his Some / one sculpture of a warrior crafted out of US military dog-tags, to his floor made of tiny figures holding up a sheet of glass. In another group of installations, his trademark is the recreation of interiors and exteriors of domestic spaces by carefully hanging sheets of diaphanous silk or nylon. He has created both western and Korean domestic spaces, inviting the viewer to enter and explore their own reaction to the architecture.

When entering the Psycho Buildings exhibition the first room is filled with nylon gauze creating an architectural space. The shapes are organic – walking into the main womb-like room the viewer encounters giant distended scrotums filled with spices. This however is not Suh Do-ho exploring curves: it’s a psycho construction, enigmatically titled Life Fog Frog … Fog Frog created by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto. One has to wait till the top floor of the exhibition to see Suh’s more familiar style, with the installation Staircase V.

On the way out of the Hayward, one passes through one of Rachael Whiteread’s more approachable works, Place: gone are the grey monoliths of concrete moulding domestic architecture like a three dimensional photographic negative, or archive boxes filled with plaster: instead, a darkened room containing a carefully laid out shanty-town of dolls houses filled with tiny lights.

If Whiteread’s work in the show is more human than her previous offerings, Suh’s work in this upstars feels more Whiteread-like than his previous work. The walls and floor of the room are perfectly empty. Suspended from a ceiling of red nylon is the outside of a staircase. Those who have lived in a Victorian house will be immediately familiar with the shapes involved. The details of the room itself are left to the imagination. Instead Suh concentrates on the negative space, the way the storey above impinges on the room we are in. But through the semi-transparent walls of the stairwell we can see details like a light switch or the banisters on the floor above.

It is worth quoting a passage from the documentation accompanying the exhibition, as it casts light on many aspects of Suh’s work:

What I found interesting in Western architecture was the distinct separation between nature and the artificial space: there’s a wall. You create a space totally separate from the outside. In the Korean house where I used to live, there are not many walls. It’s all windows and doors – and the material of the windows and doors is all semi-transparent rice paper, so there’s a sense that architecture is very porous. There’s a sense of permeability, versus opaqueness.

But the most striking installation in the exhibition is Suh’s more solid work. We are very used to talk of diaspora artists exploring the interaction of their native and adoptive cultures and identities. Suh’s Fallen Star 1/5 explores culture clash in a very literal way. The hanok he grew up in has been whisked from Korea to Providence, Rhode Island by a whirlwind and has collided with the brownstone building which was Suh’s first home in America. In exact 1:5 scale detail the effect of the impact is described: rubble on the floor, chaos in the individual rooms.

On the way out from the exhibition, there’s a dramatic installation created by the Cuban artists Los Carpinteros, showing a freeze-frame impact of a sudden disaster on a Show Room. Pieces of masonry are suspended in mid-air by nylon fishing line. The cause of the disaster is unknown, but the viewer is in the middle of it. In Suh’s installation, the calamity has already happened, and the rubble is on the floor. It’s puzzling that he sees the coming together of his Korean past and American present as so destructive. Paradoxically, however, he intends to pursue this idea further: subject to funding (and presumably, a suitable space), he aims to create a full-scale, 1:1 version of this work.

Psycho Buildings continues at the Hayward Gallery until 25 August. The above artwork images were kindly provided by the Hayward Gallery. The thumbnail of Suh Do-ho himself is from Designboom. Credits:

• Suh Do Ho: Fallen Star 1/5, 2008
  ABS, basswood, beech, ceramic, enamel paint, glass, honeycomb board, laquer paint, latex paint, LED lights, pinewood, plywood, resin, spruce, styrene, polycarbonate sheets, PVC sheets
  Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York
  Photo: © Stephen White
• Suh Do Ho: Staircase – V, 2003/04/08
  Polyester and stainless steel tubes
  Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York
  Photo: © Stephen White

Suh Do-ho resources:

• Interview at Designboom, which also has a load of good images of Suh’s earlier work
• Artnet - some more images
• Absolutearts - Suh Do-ho in Seattle, 2002

Jennifer Barclay went to Seoul with her musician boyfriend eight years ago with no fixed agenda other than a desire to get away from her job. Fortunately, while in Korea she took advantage of her free time to explore parts of the country which are not necessarily on the tourist route.

This is not intended to be a comprehensive guidebook. Other travel books might have a theme – trying (like Clive Leatherdale) to get to all four points of the compass, or in the case of Simon Winchester, trying to follow the route of a famous traveller from the past. Instead, this a lively record of wherever it was that the author happened to go on her weekly escapes from the steamy metropolis and the soulless Grand Hyatt. She goes where the mood takes her, often without forethought, sometimes ending up walking all day with no food. Camping on the beach, staying in cheap hotels and mountain temples or being welcomed into people’s homes. After finding it difficult to connect with people in the capital (aside from an unwelcome advance from a bisexual Itaewon bargirl), in the provinces she always seems to come across a friendly native who is happy to welcome her - ranging from a bungee-jumping monk to the local postman.

The genial narrative of her summer and early autumn in Korea is interspersed with passages of historical and contemporary interest, enabling the complete beginner to put modern Korea in context. And there is one fact which I haven’t seen in print before but which is entirely plausible: that North Korean experts have spent time in Zimbabwe training Mugabe’s goons in the delicate arts of interrogating and torturing dissidents.

The picture of Korea that Barclay paints is very different – and complementary – to the picture that is portrayed in the official government websites and the usual guide books. She didn’t go to Korea to collect photos of World Heritage Sites, and her most serious attempt to score some tourist points is cut short: Kyongju, the museum without walls, was found to have rather too many walls around the various sites, containing also rather too many tourists having their photographs taken. She beats a hasty retreat, instead opting to head for an unknown fishing village at the end of a random bus route.

She shows a preference for the mountains, the temples and the beaches, and prefers to avoid places crowded with sightseers, though her account of a crowded weekend at the seaside gives an insight into how Koreans spend their own time off.

Barclay shows herself willing to tackle absolutely anything on the food front. I am, however, concerned at her drinking habits. I am always slightly puzzled when responsible writers liken soju to paintstripper, as Barclay does, and I wonder whether in order to make such a pronouncement they have actually tasted both liquids being compared. I always find soju to have a very mild, and rather too pleasant flavour, and I imagine that paintstripper must be rather rough and frankly undrinkable. So either Barclay drank some extremely bad soju, or she does some extremely posh DIY.

I can confirm Barclay’s observation about the severity of the soju hangover, but I have always put that down to the admixture of beer and whisky that is an inevitable part of a drinking session. But next time I shall take up Barclay’s recommendation of kimchi as a hangover cure – and it is this restorative property of the Korean national dish which accounts for the subtitle to the book (How I went to Korea and learned to love kimchi).

The Mr Kim of the main part of the title, apart from being a handy placeholder for a substantial portion of the Korean population, is in fact a Seoulite that Barclay bumped into hiking in a national park, fitted out with all the essential hiking kit. Mr Kim stands for all the Koreans who showed the author so much kindness during her stay.

It is entirely likely that the experiences she had were because of who she is, and because she was usually travelling solo. Maybe a single man travelling alone would not have aroused the same level of friendliness and protectiveness. And when Barclay is accompanied by her boyfriend on the final trip up the east coast nothing seems to go right. It is maybe this latter experience which might resonate more with less fortunate travellers.

It would have been nice to have had some photographs to illustrate the narrative, particularly the titular Mr Kim in his hiking regalia, but Barclay’s text paints a vivid enough picture. While it would be impossible to replicate her trip, it inspires one to have a go.

Links:

• Buy Meeting Mr Kim at amazon.co.uk

A week or so ago Amnesty International called for the “excessive force” used by South Korean police ”against peaceful protestors” to be “investigated thoroughly”. A couple of other human rights organisations joined Amnesty’s ranks this week.

Burgeson’s firsthand accounts suggest that Amnesty have got it the wrong way round.

As Burgeson asks: when will the madness end?

Peter Poole served in the Korean War as a member of the Royal Military Police, and having met him through the Anglo-Korean Society, I asked if he would share his recollections of that time with me.

He was eighteen years old, with two years of national service ahead of him. After eighteen weeks of training at Woking, they were off on the troop ship. Like many of his comrades, he hadn’t heard of Korea before. ‘We knew that the communist North Korea was likely to take over the country and the western world should resist the spread of this evil regime and protect the people of this “Land of the Morning Calm”… You just got on with the job you were trained to do.’

It took five weeks to get there by troop ship, and they arrived, somewhat apprehensive, at the docks in Pusan in August 1951. The war was then 12 months old.

‘There were no civilians on the docks but there was a welcoming band (provided by the US military) and plenty of streamers, we thought everything was going to be a sort of picnic holiday and the war would be over very soon.’

The Battle of the Imjin River had taken place in April, and was one of the most decisive points in the Korean War. The Chinese forces attacked the UN line, which was mostly defended by the British. Over six hundred British soldiers were left killed, wounded or missing, many were taken prisoner, mainly from the Gloster Regiment – but they severely blunted the Chinese offensive.

The job of the Royal Military Police was security: controlling traffic, patrolling the sector and providing close protection to VIPs such as the General commanding the division.

‘We manned the bridges over the river. The river was spanned by a single line bridge with one person on either side communicating by hand operated telephones. We also had to monitor the prisoners of war – they were captured by the infantry and handed over to us on the bridges to be transferred to a holding post in Seoul. Then there were the night patrols on villages…’

As police, they would inspect these no-go areas for troops who’d gone out of bounds to raid the villages for ‘young ladies’. They also escorted the British wounded to holding places and manned camouflaged roads, which were covered with netting so that it looked like greenery to allow the tanks and supplies to get through, until the Chinese got wind of it and shelled it.

He would spend 15 months in Korea. ‘In Afghanistan and Iraq these days you only do six months at a time. But there it was like the Second World War – once you got there, you were there for the duration of your service!’

Being responsible for the roads, they had to pick up refugees who were in danger walking through a war zone. ‘One of the most satisfying things was when we’d pick up children who’d been orphaned, who’d been detached from their villages… They’d be barefoot, with no food, like you see in Darfur today. We’d take them to safety. It would be interesting to know if those children are still alive, if people today in Korea remember being rescued.’

In the North, the civilian population stayed in their dugouts, in pits, and the war went on around them; there was no evacuation. ‘They had nowhere to go – they were very, very poor – and a lot got accidentally killed, which was never broadcast.’ The Chinese and North Korean dead were buried on the spot. It was difficult for them to know who was Chinese and who was North Korean, he says, but most of the North Korean army was annihilated.

‘I have two very vivid recollections. Ask any veteran and they’ll tell you – the cold! We were living in dugouts and tents, and it got down to minus twenty, minus thirty – the winter in 1951 was particularly bad. But it was a dry cold,’ he says lightly. ‘Crispy cold… Freezing cold!’ They couldn’t light fires because the smoke would give them away, so they improvised, creating heaters out of petrol cans. ‘And we relied very much on the Americans and Canadians, who provided us with extra food and clothing – they had much better equipment.’

‘The other thing you remember – the rats! With troops living in dugouts and trenches, and the way cans and foods were disposed of, it encouraged rats. Oh, and also the noise! There were howitzers going over our heads, and of course when you’re eighteen you don’t wear ear plugs… Many veterans now suffer from bad hearing.’

‘But it was very pleasant in the summer,’ he says. Between the horrific times, there were pauses in the battle, for example when negotiations for a peace deal were happening. They’d play sports, have parades and attend variety shows.

‘Stars came out from the UK, and we had to look after them – especially the girls! There were no women, you see… We didn’t have women in the army in those days. Only nurses, and they were great! Relief from the war was by way of being flown from Kimpo airport to American occupied Tokyo for R&R or rest and recuperation – a change of uniform, a good bath, and plenty of good sleeps.’

He particularly remembers the Korean people being very friendly and appreciative of the British contribution to the war. ‘We obviously did miss home but were able to write letters almost daily and the postal system was very efficient, although sometimes batches of letters would come all at once… Occasionally a parcel of home comforts would arrive, and these were most welcome! I think the comradeship, the sharing of each others’ thoughts, parcels and letters became the norm.

‘We came back home on the troop ship from Pusan, via all the lovely places: Hong Kong, Singapore, Ceylon, through the Red Sea, along the Suez Canal. It was quite a nice cruise! But it was a great relief to sail up Southampton Water… All the families had come to meet us.’

Having spent most of his National Service in Korea, he returned home with many memories and a few souvenirs, two years older and ‘a lot wiser, a changed person from the young Military Policeman that left England… Fortunately, my old job was available and my girlfriend was still waiting!’ She later became his wife; and after recovering from a spell of malaria, he found a more challenging career in sales with the Bowater Organisation, where he stayed for almost forty-three years.

The British Korean Veterans Association has about four thousand members, most of who are now in their seventies. Peter formed the Surrey West branch himself, though he tends not to go to many parades any more. ‘After my hip operation I find it a bit exhausting to walk distances of more than a couple of miles!’

The memorial at the Imjin River is still visited every year by veterans for a commemorative service. He went in 1995 with his wife for a week, and was happily surprised to be surrounded by Korean schoolchildren asking for his autograph. He remarks on the generosity of the Korean people.

‘The transformation of the country was remarkable. I did not recognise the places. I remember the Han River when you could walk across it! It was tidal, you see, and didn’t have dams in those days. Now there are dams all the way to the sea, as on the Thames. But then it was just a little stream, with pontoon bridges across it. Now there are highways along the river bank… The one bridge that was never demolished was the railway bridge, it’s still there. The cathedrals seemed to survive, as cathedrals tend to – think of Dresden and Cologne.’

He remembers going to church once in Seoul during the war. ‘All the women wore traditional dress. There was very little western dress in those days, except a few academics. In all the villages, people wore the traditional creamy white dress, and the men carried bales of rice on A-frames, like rucksacks, all wood. And they wore the big round hats, and baggy trousers – they weren’t in touch with the outside world.’

As I speak to Peter, he’s sitting in his study, surrounded by mementoes – pictures on the wall of meetings with defence attachés when he was Korean Liaison Officer of the veterans association. Last year he had an email from a man in Perth, Western Australia, who was in the same unit and had found him through the BKVA website.

‘Dusty, we called him, and he emailed me and said have you got Skype? We’d chat quite frequently and I went to stay, marched on Anzac Day, and they made me an honorary member of the Western Australia branch of the Royal Military Police Association.’ The photo of their meeting made it into the local paper and then the BKVA Morning Calm magazine and in response he received a whole lot of communications and photos from other RMP veterans.

‘They all look a little older now, but it’s amazing how faces don’t change very much,’ he says, reflectively. ‘Bodies change, but you can still see that they’re the same people as they were at eighteen in Korea.’

Before attacking the soju in earnest we had a good chat about Korean culture and what I’m aiming to do with LKL. The interview went on for rather longer than anticipated, and so what was intended to be a standard one-pager ended up being spread over two or three weeks.

The first episode appears in this week’s Euro Journal, available online here for those of you who read Korean.

The interview itself was conducted in English, so what you see in the Euro Journal is an edited translation, with some supplementary commentary. Once the series is complete, I’ll put an edited transcription of the original English on LKL.

My hangover had just about left me by the time the following evening came around.

Links

• Interview, part 1
• Interview, part 2

Each screening will last around 30 minutes.

Silla dynasty gold earrings, 6th century AD. Diameter 3.5cm, Height 8.3cm. National Treasure No. 90, Seoul National Museum.

Silla people decorate their houses with silk interwoven with golden thread, and use golden plates and cutlery at meals

(Arab historian, 10th century)

A country that is filled with the splendour of gold and silver, such is the Kingdom of Silla

(Chronicles of Japan, AD 720)

Referred to as a “Nation of Gold” by its neighbours, Korea is a country with an extraordinary history in gold craftmanship. Of the ten pure gold crowns from ancient times, eight are from Korea, and are unparalleled in their unique and exquisite artistry. The Sarira Casket, a masterpiece of Buddhist art, is similarly without equal and is widely noted for its intricate gold granule ornaments, which are invisible to the human eye at less than 0.3mm in diameter, and impossible for modern artisans to reproduce even with today’s technology.

While it is best to aim to be there at the screening times stated above, there will be ad-hoc screenings, so please visit if you can.

Silla Dynasty Gold Crowns, 5-6th century AD, Left: Height 27.5cm, National Treasure No. 191, Seoul National Museum. Right: H 32.5cm, National Treasure No. 188, Kyongju National Museum

This is the third novel featuring the private investigator Allen Choice, a Korean American whose name indicates how far he has moved away from his Korean roots. He can’t speak the language, but he gets annoyed when people call him Chinese or Japanese. He dates a Korean girl, and is nervous at the impending visit of her parents to check out on the suitability of their daughter’s boyfriend. He likes Korean rice cakes, but is intimidated at the thought of a Korean wedding. He’s sustained by the love of his girlfriend and also by reading Kirkegaard: an orphan and a college dropout, he’s prepared to take self improvement so far, but not far enough to take Korean language classes.

Chang has invested a lot of time in giving his character depth, and the glimpses into Choice’s past makes one want to read some of the other books in the series to see what else is revealed. Looking at the summaries on Amazon, some of the same characters appear in each book, lending the series continuity. The plot marches on briskly, with sufficient moments of suspense to keep the pages turning. What starts as a simple custody case in a messy marital breakdown soon becomes a lot more complicated. And there are a couple of twists at the end just as you think it’s all wrapped up.

Those hoping for an in-depth look into the Korean American experience will be disappointed. Such cultural explorations are only dealt with in passing. Those looking for an entertaining and well-written detective story will be well satisfied and will want to seek out the earlier instalments.

Other books in the series are:

• Over the Shoulder (2001)
• Underkill (2003)

Jen’s trip to Korea was actually back in 2000, so this little baby has been a while gestating, but it’s been brought bang up to date, as it starts with an account of the 2007 Korean Food Festival in New Malden.

Congratulations, Jen. I’m sure we’ll find an excuse for a launch party soon. Amazon still says it’s going to be published on 4 August, but I picked up my copy at Daunt last night.

Links

• Buy Meeting Mr Kim at Amazon.co.uk (it’s not yet listed on the US site)

The actor Lee Dong-wook (이동욱) was born on 6 November 1981. He is sometimes known as Milky because of his pale complexion - can we look forward to his appearing on a CF for skin lightening cream?

Lee is probably best known for his performance in TV Drama My Girl (2005), where he enjoyed a good on-screen chemistry with Lee Da Hae - to such an extent that fans were desperate to believe in an off-screen romance as well.

Here’s a good video of him practising that chemistry. It’s a hard life:

Lee has appeared in a couple of films - the horror flick Arang (2006), which did well in Taiwan and Thailand as well as pulling in 1.2 million viewers in Korea (but which got a decidedly lukewarm reception from Q at koreanfilm.org) and more recently in Perfect Couple (2007). He is currently appearing in the TV series La Dolce Vita, which co-stars another My Girl actress, Park Si-yeon.

And now, the pictures.

Links

• Lee Dong Wook official website

This entertaining book has, paradoxically, taken me a devil of a long time to finish. That’s not because it’s difficult. It’s because it’s the opposite.

The book is co-branded with a series of articles that Andrei Lankov has been writing for the Korea Times since 2002. Very interesting articles lasting on average three or four pages. The sort of feature article it’s a pleasure to read on a lazy weekend, if you can find it the the pull-out section among the glossy advertisements. But these are individual articles none the less, with very little joining them together.

The book could have done with some editorial oversight – twice in the same article were are told that Seoul’s first large-scale electricity generating plant was located near Dongdaemun, while in two consecutive articles we are reminded that Seoul changed hands four times during the course of the Korean war. These lapses suggests that we are only meant to read the book one article at a time, and with around 100 chapters in the book, that’s going to take a while.

The collection is ideal for the bedside table, or, dare one say, for the smallest room in the house, because more than two articles at once is too much. It’s even unsuitable for reading on the tube, because after three stops you want to read something else.

That’s not to say the book is dull. Far from it. There are fascinating little snippets of information: how King Kojong used the telephone as a way to take part in rituals to commemorate his deceased consort without leaving the comfort of his palace; how the stigma attached to young women smoking in public is a relatively recent phenomenon. All sorts of little factoids which will enhance your understanding of modern Korea. And the popularist style of writing (rather too many jolly exclamation marks for a broadsheet audience) belies the wealth of research and learning that underlies each and every article. If you’ve mastered this book, you are well on the way to being Korean twentieth century history pub quiz champion.

As the title suggests, the book focuses on 20th century social developments, and does it in handy nibble-sized pieces. When was the first Chinese restaurant opened? When did women start getting paid employment? When was the last tiger hunt? These and more are all discussed in a user-friendly way. The articles are roughly in chronological order, so that we start with the arrival of Christianity and finish with a discussion of migrant workers.

Not to be read from cover to cover, but one to be opened at random and enjoyed for 5 minutes or so at a time. Recommended.

Links

• Review at Korea Focus

Willoughby’s introduction to North Korea was as an English language examiner working for the British Council, assessing the language abilities of some North Koreans destined for a college in England. Since then he has visited the DPRK several times to prepare the Bradt travel guide, now in its second edition (December 2007). The Bradt website claims it’s still the only travel guide to the country.

Richards explores little-visited countries, and North Korea was high on her list. She described some of the tourist attractions, including the museum of gifts presented to the Great Leader - which includes a Royal Derby plate of the Tolpuddle Martyrs.

You can listen again to the broadcast on the Excess Baggage website.

Links

• Buy Robert Willoughy’s guide to North Korea at amazon.co.uk or amazon.com
• Nick Bonner’s Koryo Tours website
• Excess Baggage Website
• Bradt Travel Guide website

Justina Jang of the Korean Cultural Promotion Agency, the organisers of the Dano Festival in Trafalgar Square, has kindly sent me some of the official photos of the event, which I have now uploaded to Flickr.

Some good photos of the very entertaining Noridan (above), some great crowd scenes which really convey the atmosphere of the event, plus one or two of the Yoon Band (below)

You can see the slideshow over on the LKL Flickr account here, or look at the thumbnails on LKL here.

Links

• KCPA website
• Read all LKL articles about the Dano Festival 2008