http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/29/kim-jong-il-us-obsession-wikileaks

With no embassy in Pyongyang, Washington devours hearsay about Kim Jong-il’s health, state of mind and succession plans

Search the cables for news of Kim Jong-il and the talk is often about his health and family. They are perhaps unsurprising obsessions when the 69-year-old’s succession is the factor most likely to determine North Korea’s future relationship with the rest of the world.

Without an embassy in Pyongyang, the Americans hoover up any fragment of intelligence from foreign contacts. The “Dear Leader” variously emerges as “a flabby old chap”, “quite a good drinker” and “increasingly indecisive since his stroke and other health problems”.

A leading Chinese official who met him in December 2009, the most recent face-to-face encounter recorded in the cables, reported that as a result of his worsening health Kim had developed a tendency to “reverse policies”, and that “officials also chart their own course as different factions competing for Kim’s attention, making it difficult for Kim to set a firm, clear direction”.

As an example of his loosening grip the Chinese official pointed to his reversal of a decision to recall students, scholars and scientists working or studying in China as a result of a single student’s defection in Beijing, under pressure from business and trade groups with interests in north-east China.

After an earlier October meeting with a Chinese state councillor, Dai Bingguo, “Kim told Dai that he had hoped to invite the Chinese official to share some liquor and wine, but that because of scheduling problems he would have to defer the offer to Dai’s next visit … Kim Jong-il had a reputation among the Chinese for being ‘quite a good drinker’ and, Dai said, he had asked Kim if he still drank alcohol. Kim said yes.”

Former prime minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew describes the North Koreans as “psychopathic types, with a ‘flabby old chap’ for a leader who prances around stadiums seeking adulation”. “Kim Jong-il has already had a stroke,” he is recorded as telling the embassy in Singapore. “It is just a matter of time before he has another stroke. The next leader may not have the gumption or the bile of his father or grandfather. He may not be prepared to see people die like flies.”

That next leader is likely to be Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il’s third son. In a meeting in Seoul in February, assistant secretary of state Kurt Campbell sought the views of a group of North Korea experts. A confidential cable reports a consensus that Kim Jong-un will face a moment of high danger when his father dies. “There were many reasons to doubt that Kim Jong-un would be able to successfully fend off challenges to his control after his father died,” one expert is quoted as saying. “He [the expert] noted that Kim Jong-il had 20 years of experience as an official of the Korean Workers’ party before his father died. Furthermore, Kim Jong-il had the benefit of years of guidance from his father after he had been officially anointed in 1980 to eventually succeed him. By contrast, Kim Jong-un had very limited experience.”

If anyone from the west can connect with Kim Jong-il, it appears to be Bill Clinton, who has a “good personal understanding” with the North Korean leader, a senior Mongolian official was told by North Korea’s vice-foreign minister, Kim Yong-il.

“Forward motion stopped during the Bush administration but was now able to proceed because of President Clinton’s recent involvement in a personal capacity, because President Obama is of the same party, and because former first lady [Hillary] Clinton is now the secretary of state,” the embassy in Ulan Bator reported in August 2009.

(Coyner’s Comment: Rarely do we get an ambassador to make a statement for the KER. In this case, I had to do some minor negotiation with the Swedish Ambassador, H.E. Lars Vargo, to allow his statement to be circulated.
Accordingly, specifically and absolutely, the below statement is not to be quoted or distributed further without prior consent of the Swedish Ambassador. If you wish to quote or distribute, you must contact the Ambassador at [email protected] . He is a very generous individual and you may expect his general cooperation. But you must ask beforehand, please!)

———————————————————-

I have been very close to those involved in the investigation (the Swedish team) and the way the investigation has been performed. And there is NO doubt whatsoever that it was a torpedo that sank the Cheonan and that the torpedo was of North Korean origin. The Swedish team has been very careful in its investigation and the members have had no reason to rush to any conclusion, but after researching the evidence, also evidence that has not been discussed in the media, they are fully convinced that it was an outside explosion caused by a torpedo of North Korean origin. The Swedish team consisted of the four best experts we have in the field.

It is also very clear that North Korea has started an Internet campaign to plant doubts wherever they can about the investigation. Some of the mails also we have received and they originated in North Korea, although Chinese servers was used. It is natural, perhaps even good, that journalists and scholars doubt reports where governments are involved, but in this case the evidence is overwhelming.

There has also been rumours circulating that the Swedish team was having doubts about the conclusions. This is not true. As all professional investigators they looked at the evidence with extremely critical eyes before drawing any conclusions. With their expertise they could also point at some evidence that others had not fully noted.

The Swedish experts have many years of experience investigating similar incidents in the Baltic Sea.

So, no doubt in my mind.

Best regards,

Lars Vargo
Swedish Ambassador to Korea

The inspiration for The Surrendered has its roots in a project I worked on more than twenty years ago, while I was still in college. I was taking a seminar on modern Korean history, and I decided that I would conduct an interview with my father to fulfil the writing assignment, conceiving a reporter-at-large-type piece that would offer personal testimony and narrative set against a historical backdrop. I wasn’t sure if he would agree. My father was twelve years old on the eve of the Korean War, and although over the years I had asked him a number of times about his experiences, his responses were typically vague and hurried; he never seemed to want to talk about that time, only briefly mentioning that his sister had died during the war from an untreated bout of pneumonia. But since I was taking a course with a special focus on Korea, he agreed to speak in more detail about that period.

My father’s family was originally from Pyongyang, now the capital of North Korea, and they had joined the throngs of refugees who were heading south in an attempt to get behind the line of American forces. He first recounted a story about his favourite older cousin, who was pregnant and just about to give birth as the rest of the extended family was frantically packing up and leaving. My father was dispatched to tell his cousin that everyone was departing–explosions could be heard in the distance–yet even though she and her husband desperately wanted to go, she had already started her labours. She couldn’t be moved. Everybody soon left, and that was last time the cousin and her husband were seen alive; to this day no one knows what happened to them, whether they perished or survived the war and ended up living in North Korea.

Telling that story of his cousin seemed to break the grip of something on my father. He recounted again that his sister had died of pneumonia during the refugee march, then added, casually, that in fact his younger brother had died during their travels, too. This disclosure surprised me. I knew that he had lost a brother, this from asking him, as children often will, about how many siblings he had, matching the number against my uncles and aunts, but I remembered his saying that his brother had died in a “subway accident.” I didn’t think there was a subway in either Pyongyang or Seoul during his childhood, so I asked him when his brother had died, and how.

My father told me that in fact his brother had been killed not by a subway car but by a boxcar of a train full of refugees. They were among the hundreds who filled the cars. The car holding the rest of their family was packed tight, so he and his brother had to sleep on top of the boxcar. In the middle of the night the train halted violently, and his brother, who was eight years old, fell off, the train then lurching forward for a short distance. My father jumped down and went back and found his brother, whose leg had been amputated by the wheels of the train. My father carried him back to the car, to the rest of their family, as the blood–and his life–ran out of him.

I’ve been haunted by that story since I heard it, not only by the horror of the accident but also by the picture of my father as a boy, a boy who had to experience his brother’s death so directly and egregiously. I was struck, too, by how unperturbed my father had always seemed to me, this cheerful, optimistic man who certainly didn’t appear to be haunted by anything. But of course this was not quite true. The events of the war had stayed with him, and always would.

In recent years I began to consider writing a novel about that time, and what happened to my father and his brother kept coming back to me. I finally decided to try to write that scene, wondering whether a larger story might be instituted. Naturally the details changed quite drastically as I began to write, the story expanding in every direction, developing its own world and aims, and soon enough it was not my father’s story at all. But the kernel of what had happened grew to become the first chapter of The Surrendered, which for me is not so much a war novel as it is a story concerned with the effects of mass conflict on the human psyche and spirit, the private odysseys that those who have experienced conflict must endure.

(Photo of Chang-Rae Lee © David Burnett)

Review

** ‘Masterful … THE SURRENDERED bursts with drama and human anguish … Powerful, deeply felt, compulsively readable and imbued with moral gravity, the novel does not peter out into easy redemption. It’s a harrowing tale: bleak, haunting and often heart-breaking – and not to be missed’ PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ** ‘Chang-rae Lee has created such a tour de force that its images and narrative linger for a long time after reading’ BOOKSELLER’S CHOICE ** ‘A major achievement, and likely to be remembered as one of this year’s best books’ KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW ** ‘Tthe most ambitious and compelling novel of Chang -rae Lee’s already impressive career. Readers will be swept up in the power of The Surrendered and its characters’ aching and indelible stories’ Michiko Kakutani, NEW YORK TIMES

http://www.webzinemaker.com/admi/m9/page.php3?num_web=15440&rubr=2&id=364549
http://hantoma.hani.co.kr/board/contents.html?board_id=ht_culture:001032&uid=207447

Notre coréenne de Montpellier poursuit son exploration intérieure à base de redécouverte de son propre passé historique. Superbe ! Pourtant, cela n’attire pas grand monde.

La semaine précédant celle de Noël, Young Ho a donc présenté sa nouvelle création, à Sérignan puis au studio Bernard Glandier.

Je sais que cela surprend certains que je consacre autant de pages à Young Ho. Elle est manifestement peu appréciée des happy few. Depuis peu, j’ai compris pourquoi je trouvais ses pièces attachantes ; je vais donc essayer de m’expliquer.
Je trouve qu’il y a beaucoup de choses à tirer de ses pièces, qui dépassent nettement l’aspect de la danse pure. En ce sens, je la rapproche d’Hélène Cathala, aussi surprenant que cela puisse paraître. Pourquoi ? Parce que, tout d’abord, je pense qu’Hélène et Young Ho font partie des chorégraphes qui ne cèdent pas aux sirènes de la mode. En ce sens, elles ne sont pas tombées dans les “tartes à la crème” de l’époque : la non-danse, la danse plasticienne, la danse “performance”(1). Cela leur nuit en termes de succès auprès des producteurs et diffuseurs… Mais le fait est là et se poursuit contre vents et marées. Et pourquoi font-elles ça, ce qui est le cœur de mon intérêt ? A mon avis, parce que pour elles, le “sujet” de la danse compte bien plus que la forme, qui doit être au service du sujet. De ce fait, la réflexion esthétique venant après la réflexion existentielle, la mode devient un diktat, qu’en artistes elles ne peuvent accepter.
De nombreux artistes sont dans ce cas là, me direz-vous ? Oui. On pourrait mettre par exemple un de ceux dont on a parlé récemment dans ce cadre : Jean-Baptiste Bonillo. Mais Jean-Ba comme d’autres, s’intéresse avant tout à son moi (ou à ses proches). Young Ho et Hélène (c’est leur deuxième caractéristique commune) ont une vision beaucoup plus globale de leur moi. Il est inscrit dans une histoire, dans une société, l’intime stricto sensu paraît y avoir moins de place. Entre les deux optiques, je ne mets pas de jugement de valeur, d’ailleurs. Simplement, je suis de plus en plus persuadé que le sujet, le “de quoi ça parle ?” a beaucoup plus d’importance que le “comment ça parle de rien!”, qui serait l’autre extrême. L’entre les deux : “de quoi ça parle ?” et “comment ça en parle ?” est bien sûr mon idéal. Et comme je suis très sensible aux notions sociales, tout autant qu’à l’intime, forcément ça me plait : ce qui compte au fond, quel que soit le “principe” de l’artiste est la sincérité de ce qu’il y a derrière. Ce que Young Ho en bonne asiatique appelle “la source”.
A noter qu’on a le même problème en sciences. Il y a des scientifiques obsédés par “l’élégance de la démonstration”. En fait, les “bons” sont surtout obsédés par le résultat de la pensée, les moyens pour y arriver étant sans importance, en ce sens que “tous les moyens sont bons”. Y compris l’invention pure et simple ou le truandage des résultats (Pauling en étant un bon exemple… et pourtant double Prix Nobel, ce n’est pas rien !)

Le titre de la pièce est Une femme coréenne (le corps est un visage). C’est le point le plus faible du truc. C’est un titre qui ne veut pas dire grand chose d’important et qui ne correspond à rien. Sauf si dans la tête de Young Ho, il y a la volonté de montrer ça uniquement sous sa deuxième partie, ce qui serait intitulé “le corps est un visage”…? Car la soirée présentée à Sérignan et au studio Glandier était en deux parties.

En première partie, nous avons eu droit à l’interprétation d’un “trésor vivant” de Corée. (CLIK)

Chul Jin Lee (photo, CLIK) est le “porteur” d’une danse de temple bouddhique, le Seung Mu. Cette danse a un passé chamanique. Elle sert de base à Young Ho pour construire un solo qui est la deuxième partie.
On avait donc l’interprétation “absolue” par Chul Jin Lee, assez longue en temps et utilisant un tambour. Et la relecture par Young Ho (qui est d’origine catholique !) au son de la voix de Paul Godard, poète.

Du simple fait de la présence de Chul Jin Lee, la soirée volait très haut. Parce qu’il est finalement très rare de voir des interprètes de “trésor vivant”, d’une part. D’autre part parce que cela ne s’inscrit généralement pas dans un dialogue avec le présent.

A la fin du spectacle, à Montpellier, Young Ho expliqua ce qu’elle avait dans la tête. Elle a découvert assez tardivement (quelque peu bloquée, finalement, par ses études de danse qui la focalisaient sur le classique et le moderne/post-moderne) que la danse traditionnelle coréenne respectait certains préceptes de la “contemporaine”, notamment la relecture individuelle. Chul Jin expliqua ainsi au public qu’une danse “musée” se devait d’être incorporée et modifiée par son porteur au cours d’un longue période de méditation “dans la montagne”. Une telle révélation d’une similitude entre l’orient et la danse contemporaine n’est pas vraiment pour nous surprendre. En même temps, pour Young Ho, cela semble avoir fait l’effet d’un choc. Depuis quelque temps, elle repart ainsi à la relecture des danses traditionnelles coréennes pour en refaire l’interprétation personnelle et ainsi décrire une sorte de long solo introspectif.
C’est touchant et la partie Young Ho/Paul godart ne manque pas d’intérêt. Elle joue sur le noir et les moments où elle se dépouille de la longue robe bouddhique pour laisser apparaître quelques bribes de chair et un vêtement nettement occidentalisé étaient vraiment prenants.

Ce qui m’intéresse le plus dans tout ça est le discours en creux. Elle nous fait un vrai discours sur l’identité nationale ! Et comme on peut comprendre ça du fait d’un certain rejet par les diffuseurs locaux de son son art(2). Rajoutez à cela un divorce… son art peut s’apparenter à l’histoire d’un rejet du corps étranger. C’est en ce sens que je trouve que “ça parle” beaucoup. Et en ces moments où la France a de nouveau une tentation de repli xénophobe, je trouve ça vraiment intéressant.

En tout cas – même sans tenir compte de la modicité des sommes demandées – les joyaux proposés, la profondeur de la pensée, la qualité humaine de la restitution scénique proposée, tout cela était époustouflant.

PS : A noter que la promotion du spectacle était assurée par “Le garage électrique” : le site

Notes :
(1) Il y a eu des pièces magnifiques là-dedans ! Mais avec le recul, il y a surtout eu un bon moyen d’être riche et célèbre.
(2) Comme tout les montpelliérains (non CCN), après un passage au Festival Montpellier danse, elle subit un rejet général ! On se demande vraiment pourquoi les compagnies ont envie d’y aller ! Seuls Ramalingom et Cathala (d’une autre manière) semblent échapper au syndrome.

http://weekly.donga.com/docs/magazine/weekly/2009/12/01/200912010500000/200912010500000_1.html

“유현목 감독은 특별하다. 그는 멜로물을 만들지 않았다. 예나 지금이나 멜로물이 한국 영화의 큰 축이었음을 감안하면 상업적인 감독은 결코 아닌 셈이다. 그는 또 새로운 영화의 개척자였다. ‘수학여행’에서 그는 처음 서울에 온 시골아이들의 모습을 유머러스하고도 따스한 시선으로 그리는가 하면, ‘오발탄’에서는 전후(戰後)의 서울에서 살기 위해 몸부림치는 가족을 묘사하면서 결코 애국심이나 민족주의를 부각하지 않는다.”

이 리뷰를 쓴 사람은 놀랍게도 한국인이 아니라 영국인, 그것도 영화 전문가가 아니라 순수한 아마추어 애호가다. 세계 금융계의 중심지인 런던 시티지역의 한 회계법인에 근무하는 필립 고우먼(47) 씨가 그 주인공. 부드럽고 침착한 태도가 돋보이는 전형적 ‘영국 신사’인 그는 2006년부터 런던에서 열리는 한국 관련 행사들과 각종 한국 문화를 소개하는 ‘런던 코리안 링크’를 열고 인터넷의 ‘한국 알리미’로 맹활약 중이다.

그의 웹사이트 ‘런던 코리안 링크’(http://londonkoreanlinks.net)에는 한국과 관련된 정보가 다양하게 실려 있다. 최근 런던의 한국문화원에서 열린 봉준호 감독 특별회고전 같은 행사는 물론 세르비아와 한국 국가대표팀의 축구 경기, 런던을 방문한 재즈 가수 나윤선과 트로트 가수 김수희의 소식, 심지어 북한 망명자들이 영국 의회에서 증언한 뉴스까지 볼 수 있다.

그렇다고 고우먼 씨가 한가한 사람인 것은 아니다. 회사에서 한창 근무 중일 때는 단 10분의 전화통화도 어려울 정도다. 그처럼 바쁜 그가, 더구나 한국과는 아무 연고도 없는 그가 어떻게 한국 문화에 푹 빠져들게 된 것일까.

“저 는 원래 다양한 분야에 관심이 많은 사람입니다. 피아노를 연주하고, 교회 성가대에서 활동하고, 수공예 책을 만드는 과정도 배웠죠. 그러다 10년쯤 전에 제가 다니는 회계법인에서 한국의 한 은행 런던 지점 개설을 돕게 됐습니다. 그 일을 하면서 조금씩 한국인과 한국이라는 나라에 호기심이 생겼죠. 또 한국 영화를 보게 되고, 한국인 친구들이 생겼습니다. 2006년에 웹사이트를 열고 난 뒤부터는 여기에 집중하느라 다른 취미를 모두 포기하게 됐습니다.”

몇 명의 도우미가 있긴 하지만 웹사이트의 기사 절반 이상은 고우먼 씨가 직접 쓴다. 그러니 최소 하루 한 번은 새로운 기사를 써야 한다. “하루가 48시간이면 좋겠다”는 그의 말이 엄살이 아닌 셈. 그의 웹사이트에는 하루 1000명가량의 누리꾼이 방문한다. 최근에는 점점 그 수가 늘고 있는 추세다.

“기사를 쓰면 쓸수록 단신보다 좀더 깊이 있는 기사를 쓰고 싶어집니다. 그러니 늘 시간이 부족하죠. 아무래도 제가 약간 미친 건가 싶기도 해요.(웃음)”

그는 최근 들어 한국에 대한 런던 사람들의 관심이 부쩍 늘어나는 것을 체감한다고 전했다. 특히 한국 영화제를 찾는 관객 수가 많아졌다고.

“가끔 한국 감독들과 관객들의 만남의 자리 같은 행사가 열립니다. 그 자리에서 영국 관객들이 한국 감독에게 질문을 하는데, 그 질문의 내용이 점점 깊이 있어지더군요. 영국에는 봉준호, 박찬욱 감독을 좋아하는 사람이 많습니다.”

개인적으로 그는 이창동, 임권택, 임상수 감독을 좋아한다.

“나 자신에게 뭔가 생각할 거리를 던져주는 영화를 좋아합니다. 이 세 감독의 영화는 생각할 여지를 줌과 동시에 재미도 있죠.”

한국 영화에 대한 애정도 보통이 아니지만 고우먼 씨가 최고로 꼽는 한국 문화는 음악, 그중에서도 현대음악과 결합한 전통음악이다.

“사물놀이가 가진 현대적 감각에 놀랐습니다. 한국의 전통음악에 대해서도 좀더 많이 알고 싶어요. 언젠가는 직접 종묘제례악 실연을 들어볼 수 있었으면 좋겠습니다.”

그는 출장차 또는 짧은 휴가를 이용해 여러 차례 한국을 찾았다. 그가 한국에서 가장 기억에 남는 장소로 꼽는 곳은 해인사.

“절 안에 가득한 평화로운 분위기가 잊히질 않아요. 이런 기억 때문에 한국을 더욱 사랑하게 되는 것 같습니다.”

런던=전원경 객원기자 [email protected]

Misun Won chose a circle for a basic unit as it is a more efficient geometric figure and lends itself to 3 dimensional forms. She has used multiple circles to develop an assortment of complex forms in silver, making a subtle and varied collection of objects based on the idea of Korean patchwork. She makes patterns from one sheet of silver using basic techniques such as saw piercing, bending and soldering, creating complex forms on their own or in combination with precious and non-precious material. She also developed some functional and symbolic containers using the “patchwork” of circles to form supporting, light-reflective and playful rhythmical structures.

Serena Park’s works are exquisite and timeless scuptural pieces. Her jewellery combines glass blowing, traditional goldsmithing, and modern jewellery making techniques. It is about a message of harmony – a harmony between the different materials of glass, gemstones and precious metal, and also how nature tunes with the human body. Furthermore, the contrasting materials of glass and metal represent the two sides of human beings – their fragility and their tenacity. All of these elements conjure up a sense of the “marvellous” and bring the “elegant refinement of the goddess” into ordinary life. Although an aesthetic of consistency runs through all of her works, each of Serena’s collections has a totally different theme from the others – making each one a truly unique experience.

William Lee’s work is always reainsed from one piece of silver, thus “seamless”, and he has the rare gift of transposing a “soul” to the finished piece of metal.

The Beaker is an exciting sized object within his collection as normally he works on large scale form.

THis collection is also hand raised from a single sheet of silver with the hammered surface texture to bring vitality to the forms. William has added surface finishing that looks like icicles that are formed by water freezing as it droups. It conveys a benign emotion of tranquillity and peace plus a feeling of “natural” mind.

http://www.mimifroufrou.com/scentedsalamander/2008/04/beauty_perfume_in_traditional.html

Fig. 1 - Beauty set: hair pins, combs, tweezer © Coreana Cosmetics Museum

In keeping with my enthusiasm for cosmetics that make use of bio or natural ingredients, I thought that it would be interesting to explore the traditional Korean art of beauty and cosmetic culture in ancient times, more particularly as it was experienced from the medieval period until the turn of the 20th century.

If this topic may appear a bit geeky at first blush, I can point out that nowadays mainstream contemporary beauty brands do not hesitate to use ancient medieval recipes, like for example Lush with its “Angels on Bare Skin” facial scrub and Caudalie with its “Eau de Beauté” based on the legendary rejuvenating medieval rosemary lotion called “Eau de la Reine de Hongrie”.

I love Asian art, often travel in the region and I was delighted to discover this tradition, which as it turns out emphasized the use of gentle natural ingredients (flowers, fruit kernels, beans) rather than chemical concoctions like the infamous Blanc de Céruse composed of white lead which ailed and disfigured many a beauty junkie in modern Europe. This is not to say that chemicals are not beneficial or that natural ingredients are always the best alternatives!

An exhibition organized by the Coreana Cosmetics Museum entitled Parures, fards et onguents dans la Corée ancienne (Adornments, Make-up, and Oinments in Ancient Korea) was held last year in Paris on this virtually unknown topic in Europe and even the West at large…

Fig. 2 - An 18th century Korean beauty. Attributed to Kim Hong-Do (A.D. 1745- ?) © Seoul National University Museum

Fig 3. - Celadon cosmetics containers, Koryo period (A.D. 918-1392) © Coreana Cosmetics Museum

Fig. 4 - Rouge container in white and blue porcelain, Choson period (A.D. 1392-1910) © Coreana Cosmetics Museum

Fig. 5 - Powder dish, Choson period © Coreana Cosmetics Museum

Fig. 6 - Water-dropper for preparing make-up, Choson period © Coreana Cosmetics Museum

The selection of cosmetics containers (fig. 3, and figs. 4-6), make-up tools, hair accessories and jewels which were exhibited (reproduced here with kind permission) come from the Coreana Cosmetics Museum, an affiliate of the Coreana Cosmetics Company which is currently one of the largest cosmetics companies in South Korea. The private museum was established in Seoul in 2001 by Yu Sang-ok, the founder and owner of the company. It currently holds the largest collection of artefacts related to traditional Korean cosmetic and beauty culture and includes 5,300 objects, ranging from the Three Kingdoms period (57 B.C. -A.D. 668) to the early 20th century. These objects were assembled with great care and passion by Mr. Yu.

Feminine Beauty Criteria and Ideals

Thick glossy hair, a fair skin, thin eyebrows and small lips (Korean beauties of the time would probably shudder in horror at the thought of getting silicone injections today!) constituted the classical canon of beauty in medieval Korea (see fig. 2).The woman depicted on this 18th century painting by Kim Hong-Do actually wears a wig made of coiled braids which was the most common hairdo at that time. The frenzy for this accessory was such that King Chongjo prohibited by royal decree in 1788 the use of such extravagant wigs that were deemed contrary to Confucian values of reserve and restraint. It is interesting to note that comparable high-built hairdos, which were equally status-affirming, were also popular at the French court at Versailles in the 18th century.

The twelfth century source the Illustrated Record of the Chinese Embassy to the Koryo Court (A.D. 1123) by the Chinese envoy from the Northern Song court, Xu Jing (A.D. 1091-1153), informs us about the make-up style of Korean women from the upper classes during the Koryo period (A.D. 918-1392). It is recorded that they favored light make-up, using powder but without rouge or blush, and drew eyebrows in the shape of a “willow leaf”.

The Kyuhapch’ongso dated from 1809, which was an instructional guide for everyday life for women of the upper classes during the late Choson period, which covered more than five centuries (A.D.1392-1910), records various techniques of manufacturing cosmetic products and fragrances, such as rouge for cheeks and lips, fragrances to perfume the body, oils to maintain long, black and glossy hair, as well as the descriptions of shapes of eyebrows, up to ten different ones!

Fig.7 - Celadon cosmetics oil bottle, Koryo period © Coreana Cosmetics Museum

The Making of Cosmetics and Perfume

Facial scrubs were made with ginseng root, red bean, green mung bean or sponge gourd, while facial lotions were made of cucumber or watermelon and perfumed with scented plants. Sunflower seeds, cabbage seeds and castor-oil plant were often used to produce cosmetic oils. Peony flower oil was particularly favored by Korean noblewomen of the 19th century to make their hair sleek, an ideal of beauty.

Owing to the lack of preservatives in ancient times, make-up was made in small quantities corresponding to daily needs and kept in tiny containers with a narrow aperture to prevent alteration, such as the Celadon cosmetics oil bottle shown here (fig. 7). The blue and white cosmetic set presented above (figs. 4-6) consists of a small pot which used to contain rouge, an octagonal dish for preparing make-up and a mini-water dropper used to dilute cosmetics. I marveled to see that these containers are only between one to one and half inches high!

Small pouches filled with fragrant herbs or scented with lightly diluted natural musk were carried both by men and women. In fact, court officials at the king’s service were required to carry such perfumed pouches during the Koryo period (A.D. 918-1392).

Historical records mention the existence at the royal court of artisan-perfumers called “Hyangjang” who bred musk deers in the palace precincts to produce perfume and incense. Clove, star anise and “nut grass” were the main ingredients used in producing perfumes.

Kisaeng women, by Yu Un-hong (1797-1859)

Styles of Makeup

A simple yet elegant appearance, associated with a dignified demeanour and humble manners, were considered the epitome of beauty and elegance following Confucian ideals of the Choson period. While women from the upper classes could afford to use a higher-quality mixture of flower ashes, indigo plants and real gold powder to produce the dye for the eyebrow or the rouge make-up made of saffron flowers and cinnabar, less affluent people would use a piece of charcoal to highlight their eyebrows, as well as dried red pepper as a substitute for rouge.

A white-powdered face was to be avoided at all cost since it was the makeup style of the lowly lives, the female entertainer or Kisaeng (the Korean equivalent of the Japanese Geisha). They were women trained in the art of music, dance and poetry (fig. 8).

Respectable women were expected to wear light-peach-colored make-up when going out or receiving guests.

A postcard used by a French missionary in 1910. The caption reads: A Corean Singer & Maid -- The first was identified as a Kisaeng, from Chosun

New make-up styles and cosmetics were introduced in Korea in the late 19th century following the Treaty of Kanghwa in 1876 when Korean ports opened to foreign trade. European cosmetics, in particular French ones, were imported starting in the early 20th century and they were so popular that it prompted the creation in 1916 of the first face powder ever manufactured in Korea, Pak’s powder.

The famous kisaeng Hwang Jin-I played by South Korean actress Ha Ji-Won in a TV drama, from Chosun

Acknowledgment: I wish to thank the Coreana Cosmetics Museum for providing information included in this article as well as the pictures illustrating this post.

Pictures © All rights reserved by the Coreana Cosmetics Museum, except where mentioned otherwise.