While there is no shortage of interest from creatives, if non-British theatre is to move beyond a series of endless beginnings, international productions need the faith of producers and investors, says producer Junyoung Kim https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/korean-theatre-needs-more-support-in-the-uk-market-junyoung-kim London likes to think of itself as a global stage, but when it comes to welcoming musicals not born in… Continue reading Korean theatre needs more support in the UK market
‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Is My Kind of Globalism
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/16/opinion/kpop-demon-hunters-globalism.html I initially didn’t intend to watch the Netflix blockbuster “KPop Demon Hunters,” an animated film about a K-pop girl band that must save its fans from a group of demons who have taken the corporeal form of a K-pop boy band, as any clever demon would. I had no reason to believe it would… Continue reading ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Is My Kind of Globalism
History as Literature, Literature as History
Lost Names: Scenes From A Korean Boyhood History as Literature, Literature as History: An Interview with Lost Names Author, Richard E. Kim Lost Names is a useful, rare, and wonderful book for several reasons. The book’s title reflects the Japanese Pacific War policy of forcing Koreans to replace their own names with Japanese ones. Lost… Continue reading History as Literature, Literature as History
The myth of Park Chung-hee and Korea’s economic development
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/924092.html The eighth volume in the 20-volume “Seo Jung-seok’s Contemporary Korean History,” which has now been published in its entirety, has a rather pugnacious subtitle: “Crediting Economic Growth to Park Chung-hee is a Dangerous Misunderstanding.” Considering that even critics of Park’s long dictatorship and his suppression of democracy tend to give him credit for economic… Continue reading The myth of Park Chung-hee and Korea’s economic development
Why Does Rage Define ‘Parasite’ and Other Popular East Asian Movies?
Thessaly La Force https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/t-magazine/asia-movies-parasite.html Many thriller and horror films from Japan, China and South Korea reveal a complicated relationship between those societies and the ancient tenets of Confucianism. THE CENTRAL OBJECT in the director Bong Joon Ho’s newest film, “Parasite,” which won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is a suseok, or… Continue reading Why Does Rage Define ‘Parasite’ and Other Popular East Asian Movies?
Artist Zadie Xa on Art Night festival, sea animals and highlighting minority stories
https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/arts/artist-zadie-xa-art-night-festival-interview-a4170631.html Ben Luke – Evening Standard When I walk into a yard behind Zadie Xa’s East End studio, she’s in the middle of a fascinating process. With her husband, artist Benito Mayor Vallejo, she’s just revealed some unmistakable shapes from fibreglass moulds: the dorsal fins of orcas. These cetacean curves are part of a rich,… Continue reading Artist Zadie Xa on Art Night festival, sea animals and highlighting minority stories
Inside the hidden life of Kim Jong Un
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/inside-the-hidden-life-of-kim-jong-un/2019/06/13/0aee892c-8621-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html By Krys Lee June 14 Krys Lee is the author of the novels “Drifting House” and “How I Became a North Korean.” THE GREAT SUCCESSOR The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un By Anna Fifield PublicAffairs. 308 pp. $28 Few heads of state inspire as many jokes as North Korean leader Kim… Continue reading Inside the hidden life of Kim Jong Un
Kim Jong-un’s Image Shift: From Nuclear Madman to Skillful Leader
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/world/asia/kim-korea-image.html SEOUL, South Korea — He ordered his uncle executed and half brother assassinated. He spent millions developing and testing a hydrogen bomb and intercontinental ballistic missiles as his people suffered severe food shortages. He exchanged threats of nuclear annihilation with President Trump, calling the American leader a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.” That was last… Continue reading Kim Jong-un’s Image Shift: From Nuclear Madman to Skillful Leader
Locked and Loaded for the Lord
After the Rev. Moon died in 2012, his church split apart. Two of his sons established a new congregation. Their followers are eagerly awaiting the end times. And they are armed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/05/21/feature/two-sons-of-rev-moon-have-split-from-his-church-and-their-followers-are-armed/ Story by Tom Dunkel Photos by Bryan Anselm Sanctuary Church — whose proper name is World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, but which also… Continue reading Locked and Loaded for the Lord
The 1,500-Year-Old Love Story Between a Persian Prince and a Korean Princess that Could Rewrite History
http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-asia/1500-year-old-love-story-between-persian-prince-and-korean-princess-could-rewrite-021896 More than a thousand years before the first European explorer reached Korea’s shores, the Persian Empire was writing love stories about Korean princesses. It’s a little-known story that could change the way we see our history. Recently, historians took a second look an old Persian epic written around 500 AD and realized that, at… Continue reading The 1,500-Year-Old Love Story Between a Persian Prince and a Korean Princess that Could Rewrite History