An extremely talented violinist, EungSoo Kim & Pianist, Moon Young CHAE

'This is the most beautiful violin sound I have ever heard!!'
(Hungarian Maestro Violinist and Conductor Tibor Varga)

'Perfect!'
(Strad, Korea)

'An extremely talented violinist with full of temperament, awareness of musical perception'…(Julian Rachlin, Concert Violinist)

EungSoo remarks himself as a musical virtuoso and his wide concert engagements demonstrate this: concerts with Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, Biel Symphony Orchestra, Göttingen Symphonie Orchester, Daegu Symphony Orchestra, Kyungbuk State Symphony Orchestra, Chungnam State Symphony Orchestra, Prime Philharmonic Orchestra and others. Especially, his recital in Poland was broadcasted by Radio Gdansk with very positive critics. Also, his debut in the Berliner Philharmonie hall in 2007 was highly successful and he was reinvited to perform Mendelssohn Concerto, Dvorak and Tchaikovsky Concertos. Moreover, his debut with Khachaturian Concerto in Seoul received overwhelming attention and a fantastic review. The concert was broadcasted on TBS Seoul.

The following concerts are solo performances with Orquestra de Cordoba, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Mantova Chamber Orchestra, Oviedo Filharmonica, Wonju Philharmonic Orchestra and Changwon Philharmonic Orchestra etc.

EungSoo is a top prize winner of the Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition, Maria Canals International Music Competition, Tibor Varga International Violin Competition, ‘Rodolfo Lipizer’ International Violin Competition and Spohr International Violin competition. EungSoo also played for Leonidas Kavakos, and he praised Eung Soo for his wide and diverse technical and musical capacity.

EungSoo was born in Korea and started the violin at seven. Only after a year, he won the first prize in the Ulsan local competition. After graduating Seoul Arts High School (Prof. Tae-Sik Pyung), he moved to Vienna and studied with the renowned teachers as professors Igor Ozim, Kriszstof Wegrzyn and Boris Kuschnir.

EungSoo has a CD from Azzurramusic supported by the City of Verona and the the next CD from Telos Music Records is already receiving high attention for its extraordinary quality and unique personality.

Moon Young CHAE, a Vienna-based pianist, performed the Grieg Piano Concerto when she was thirteen with Korean Symphony Orchestra where she was commented as a ‘sentational young pianist’. She extended her studies at the Purcell School in London and she studied with the world-leading teachers like Patsy Toh, Yonty Solomon and Irina Zaritskaya. She received the Master of Music Degree from the Royal College of Music where she also performed Scriabin Concerto with the RCM Sinfonietta.

Whilst having studied in London, Moon Young has received numerous scholarships such as Myra Hess Scholarship, Martin Scholarship and she won the Yamaha Scholarship Europe in 2002. Her achievements from competitions include the First prize from the Zinetti International Chamber Music Compeition and Maria Canals International Music Competition (2004), the Second prize in the Concorso Internazionale Ciltta di Pinerolo (2001), the Second prize in the Intercollegiate Beethoven Competition (2001) and the special prize in the Concorso Internazionale di esecuzione musicale Provincia di Caltanissetta.

Moon Young is also a devoted chamber musician. She has performed enourmous chamber music concerts and she has worked with professors like Boris Kuschnir, Pavel Vernikov and Igor Ozim and her partners include Julian Rachlin, Lidia Baich and Alisa Weilerstein and her husband Eung Soo KIM. She also has an album from the Decca with a Scriabin Prelude and the first album with Eung Soo Kim is released by Azzurramusic.

Moon Young has performed in prestigious venues such as Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, The Purcell Room, South Bank in London. Moon Young performs actively with Eung Soo KIM and as a soloist in Vienna, London, Lindau, Koblenz, Seoul, Daegu and venues including St. Matin-in-the-Field, London, Regent’s Hall (UK) Little Angels’ Concert Hall, Seoul (Korea), Stadttheater, Lindau (Germany), Gesellschaft für Musiktheater Wien, Beethoven Gedenkstätte, Schubertgeburtshaus (Vienna).

Lu Jiuyuan, a Chinese scholar and philosopher who founded the school of the universal mind

Lu Jiuyuan (Chinese: 陸九淵, 1139–1192) was a Chinese scholar and philosopher who founded the school of the universal mind, the second most influential Neo-Confucian school. He was a contemporary and the main rival of Zhu Xi.

Lu's Philosophy of the Mind: Unity of the Mind and the Way
In his own words, Lu said, "The universe is my mind, and my mind is the universe." Unlike Zhu's emphasis of li, which is the principle that contains and underlies all things and beings, Lu brought forward the concept of the heart/mind as the ultimate one or source that encompasses everything including the universe and the principle. The unity of the mind expressed in the work of Lu means that the mind of humanity and the mind of the Way (Dao) are one and the same. This is in direct opposition to Zhu Xi's idea that the mind of Humanity and the mind of the Way are separate and distinct from each other. Zhu Xi also claimed that every individual thing possesses its own unique material force (chi) distinct from the principle (li). Lu vehemently opposed this dualistic doctrine and further emphasized that everything is connected and originated from the heart/mind.

Original Mind
The concept of original mind was first conceived by Mencius but was further developed by Lu. The original mind means that all human beings are born with innate moral knowledge and virtue. This original mind is fourfold as Mencius called them 'four roots of the heart':

Compassion - The root of humaneness (ren).
Shame - The root of righteousness (yi).
Respect - The root of propriety and ritual observance (li).
Knowledge of right and wrong - The root of wisdom (zhi).

Like real roots in nature these four roots must be nurtured first before flowers to bloom. So, in other words, these four roots of the heart are nothing but just tendencies of the mind. These four roots of the heart need proper nurturing and care to grow strong and healthy to manifest their true nature, which is moral virtue.
Lu believed that moral virtues are innately present in the human heart/mind and that, endowed by Heaven, humaneness and righteousness form the Original Mind of of human beings. The original mind is shared by all human beings, both sages and common people, and its truth is ageless and eternal.

Influence of Mencius on Lu's Philosophy
Mencius undoubtedly had a major influence on Lu, this can easily be attested to by the numerous quotes of Mencius used in the works of Lu. Their similarities are striking since Lu used many concepts and ideas first conceived by Mencius; but without exception Lu developed Mencius' ideas on his own and caused these ideas to reach a greater maturation. Furthermore, influenced by both Buddhism and Daoism, Lu incorporates the metaphysical aspects to his philosophy that added more complexity and subtlety to Mencius' original ideas.

Influence of Daoism on Lu Jiuyuan
There is a real and significant influence of Daoism on Lu's philosophy. The most prominent influences are the concept simplicity and spontaneity.
The concept of spontaneity is the central point of Daoism. According to Daoism, an ideal ruler is the king who has cultivated quiescence (stillness) to such a level that he can act harmoniously and spontaneously to any situation. Zhuangzi, Daoist philosopher, expresses this in his own words, "in stillness a sage, in motion a king"
Another influence of Daoism on Lu Jiuyuan in his belief that if one is 'to establish what is fundamental, one must eliminate desire.' This is to emphasize the simplicity of living without human desires that usually corrupt human beings' true simplistic nature.

School of the Universal Mind after Lu Jiuyuan
The philosophy of Lu Jiuyuan attracted not many followers in China following Lu's death in 1193. Lu's philosophy was almost completely forgotten until a later thinker named Wang Yangming republished and wrote his commentaries on Lu's works during Ming dynasty. Wang Yangming played a significant role in developing Lu's philosophy and the school of the universal mind rivaling Zhuxi's school of the principle. The school of the universal mind is also called the Lu-Wang school after the names of two major thinkers, Lu Jiuyuan and Wang Yangming. The influence of this school in China following Wang's death was however curtailed by the strong centralized bureaucratic state system which controlled the education of all the government officials through the state sponsored examination which was heavily influenced by the curriculum designed by Zhu Xi. The influence of Lu-Wang school in Japan was however much greater owing to the comparatively more decentralized government system following the Sengoku (Warring states) period. The Oyomei (Japenese for Wang Yangming) school in Japan inspired and made great influences on subsequent Japanese thinkers and activists such as Nakae Tōju and Ōshio Heihachirō.
In more recent times, Lu's philosophy was reintroduced by Liang Sou-ming in his book The Civilization and Philosophy of the East and the West (1921).

Painter and Art Official, Feng Yuan, Says Painting Should Regain Ancient Values

As the nation's influence continues to grow, Chinese paintings and artists should be valued and grasp the world recognition they deserve, says Feng Yuan, vice-chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circle. He urged "Chinese artists to be brave enough to express their unique and outstanding views on whatever topics through their artwork".

"Chinese painting, with a long glorious history, has its own value, and I firmly believe it has a value equal with, if not more worthwhile than, Western paintings," said Feng.

Chinese artists are increasingly featured in international shows, an illustration of increased acceptance of their work. Chinese contemporary art is one of the reflections of China's enormous transformation over the past few decades.

One example of the flourishing Chinese art market is the 798 gallery district in Beijing, a Bauhaus-style former munitions complex, that has been transformed into the capital's hottest art center with more than 150 galleries.

Feng views emerging cultural groups as inspired and responsible young people who are brave enough to pursue their own ways of expression.

"You can see how the art tradition has been passed on to the younger generations," Feng said during his visit to the third Academic Forum of Contemporary Chinese Painting at the Hong Kong Exhibition Center in January.

'Deeper insight'
Feng's career as both an artist and art official gives him insight into contemporary Chinese painting. Born in Shanghai in 1952, Feng's talent manifested itself very early in life. He refined his art through years of self study before enlisting at an art studio in Liaoning province in 1977.

The following year he became a post-graduate student at the prestigious Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied painting under the watchful eye of an acknowledged master, Fang Zengxian. From 1987 to 1999, Feng worked in the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts as an art teacher. He went on to become vice-president of the school.

In 1999 he was appointed director of the department of education, science and technology at the Ministry of Culture. He later became director of the arts department at the ministry and in 2004 was appointed curator of the National Art Museum. Since 2005, he has also been vice-chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circle.

Feng said Chinese traditional paintings of landscapes, birds and flowers have been extensively developed, while figure painting has not flourished as much. In recent years, figure painting has taken more varied forms but emphasize patterns and painting techniques. But Feng's work uses enormous emotional elements along with intense realism.

A new school called "Neoscholar painting" is trying to restore the essence of paintings that ancient scholars and officials had. Feng said that after the Song Dynasty, the cultural foundations of scholarly painting gradually disappeared and government officials and intellectuals came to view art, especially painting, as a type of entertainment or pastime.

'Tibetan paintings'
Feng has also long had a strong connection to Tibetan painting and culture.

"An increasing number of Tibetan and Han artists in China go deep into the hinterlands of Tibet and show the great progress with their painting brushes, depicting their own experiences, inspiration and artistic vision," said Feng.

For more than half a century, Tibet has experienced a historical and fundamental change from serfdom to a society with modern civilization, he noted. Paintings on Tibet are developing in the historical context of Tibetan and Han cultures, promoting and complementing each other.

"The efforts of artists from several generations have laid a solid basis for painting works on Tibet - an important subject of fine art and a theme widely presented in the works of many artists," Feng said.

Entering the new century, the works created by both middle-aged and young artists of Tibetan and Han heritage vividly present the life of various ethnic groups of China in the modern age, Feng said.

President Lee pledges to establish int'l green growth think tank

The President who is in Copenhagen to attend the 15th UN climate change conference delivered his second address on Dec. 18 (local time).
The address was made on behalf of the Environmental Integrity Group (EIG), comprised of Lichtenstein, Mexico, Monaco, Switzerland and Korea.
"EIG has made many workable solutions that touch upon the core issues [of climate change]," President Lee said during the speech after the EIG meeting.
The "Green Fund" proposed by Mexico, the “International tax system” by Switzerland, and the “Registry” mechanism proposed by Korea, all played an important role in bringing together developed and developing countries, The President said.
What is important in fighting climate change is "Me First" attitude, and this is why the members of EIG set an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he added.
During the latter half of the speech, The President stressed that green growth is the new economic path that would benefit all the countries, and emphasized again the Korean government's ambitious plan to establish the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), an international think thank that will work to lower carbon gas emissions.
The institute, according to The President's plan, will bring together scholars, scientists and civil society leaders from around the world to come up with workable solutions to climate change problems.
As to the closing of the Copenhagen conference, Lee said, "This is not an end but a new beginning."
"Although we may not agree on everything today, this must not be an excuse for No-Action. We will continue to do our very best because there is no alternative to our planet," said The President.

Charm Lee, President of the Korea Tourism Organization

Charm Lee, a German-born naturalized Korean, was recently appointed as the President of the Korea Tourism Organization. According to the Korean press, his appointment reflects the Korean Government’s willingness to open up a high level government public office to a foreign born individual who possesses professionalism which is also expected to bring a positive impact on attracting foreign investment to Korea.Since being naturalized in 1986, he has actively been involved in various fields in corporate management and major media- including TV, which has made him a well-known public figure and recently, he has hosted a TV programme regarding tourism and globalization of Korean food. He is known to be very passionate about his adopted home which is obvious through his words and actions. During the appointment press conference, President Lee said “With my extensive understanding and experiences of cross cultures, I will do my best to elevate the Korean tourism industry through strengthening overseas marketing and expansion of tourism infrastructures from the perspective of a consumer.”

I met Mr Charm Lee, on a typically British Autumnal day, at the Korean Cultural Centre in London. I was privileged to accompany him on his business trip between the 7th of November and the 9th of November during his Korean Tourism Campaign in London. At first glance, I must admit that I was overwhelmed by his features and of his elegant use of the Korean language. During his several interviews in London, he was confident about the future of Korean Tourism. Not surprisingly, he was able to share this confidence with a European audience. I believe that this should be the most valuable asset he possesses. Below is an excerpt of how he is trying to project the image of Korea as a special culture:

Why come to Korea?
I would simply reply that ‘to recharge your energy’ because there is more energy in Korea than anyplace else. Korea is a society that recharges and reinvents itself constantly. It’s very Oriental but a unique place where a multicultural society is emerging.It is a very sophisticated and world-class country—you can get anything here.

What is the genuine charm of Korea of Charm Lee?
1. Genuine Taste: Good Food is the Best Medicine
Korean food incorporates philosophy and science, which is well incarnated with the wisdom of our ancestors who always said that ‘good food is the best medicine’. The role of food is not only to provide us with nutrients but also to heal our bodies. This is exactly why Korean food attracts so much attention at a time when eating health food is becoming a global trend. Korean food reflects ‘Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements’, all fundamentals in Oriental philosophy. Take Kimchi for instance. No matter how much we eat Kimchi we do not get tired of it, and that’s because it is based on that perfect Oriental harmony. The ‘Globalization of Korean Food’ is well underway and therefore it is important to maintain excellence and develop Korean food into premium products. Makgeolli, for instance, is traditional liquor that was mostly consumed by older generations within Korea. Recently, it has been rediscovered amid the increasing preference for healthy food, as a delicious, healthy, high quality beverage.

2. Genuine Charm: Peering out from the Daecheonmaru
Hanok are traditional Korean houses that are built with science and philosophy in mind. Their locations are carefully calculated in accordance with Feng-Shui principles, focusing on both practical use and beauty. You can feel the natural energy of Korea in this eco-friendly structure that uses local, natural building materials such as rocks, soil, and wood. When I am in a very old Hanok or a traditional Hanok built by masters, I fall asleep without even noticing it and wake up feeling refreshed and quite happy. The best part is that Hanok has a spacious yet cozy open-air living room called Daecheongmaru which is great to relax in. I like to take in the scenery and even meditate and thinking deeply alone. The world is just so peaceful and beautiful as I lie down on Daecheongmaru gazing at clouds floating in the sky, and listening to the sound of wind.

3. Genuine Sound: 'Sori’, Korean Music That Touches the Soul
Powerful energy hidden inside the virtue of moderation - the sound of Korea is quiet and calm, yet inside it hides powerful energy like an exploding volcano. Although Koreans are peace-loving people, being sandwiched between China and Japan, Korea has often suffered from invasion and war. The sorrow that comes from that sad history is known as ‘Han’. ‘Han’ is what one feels when not able to express feelings of oppression or exploitation because of and unequal power relationship. It is believed that ‘Han’ is the source of the power that is driving Korea to become a successful player in the international sphere, both politically and economically. That energy can be easily felt while listening to a ‘Sori’ performance (a general term for all traditional songs of Korea including Pansori and Minnyo or folk songs). I feel so touched and empathized with the melody as I listen to Sori, the sound of Korea based on ‘Han’ and nostalgia. It is a genuine heart touching sound.

Apart from the above mentioned 3 genuine beauties, Mr Lee, also proposed 3 attitudes (3관: Attention, Observation, Relationship / 관광객에 대한 관심, 관찰, 관계) and 5 Elements (5림: Excitement, Attraction, Harmonisation, Echo, Wave / 떨림, 끌림, 어울림, 울림, 몸부림) on the Tourism Campaign. I believe, not before long, Korean tourism will develop sensationally in the European tourism market and I have no doubt in saying that MR Lee will lead this supportive campaign successfully because he has discovered that the selling point about Korea does not only rely on visual or contemporary consumable factors but also on spiritual and philosophical essences, which the country has beautifully preserved for more than 5,000 years. It is in the immediate future that the World’s 11th largest economy should purposefully develop a strategy to promote its tourism industry.

(Written by Lee Hyung-wook, Editor in Chief)

Younee, Cool and Red Hot

Not many female performers have stopped me in my tracks upon listening to them for the first time-they include Peggy Lee, Keely Smith and Tina Turner. Another name to do so is YOUNEE.

I first heard her perform three tracks from her album “TRUE TO YOU”- “East West” “True to You” and “Home to You” at the Korean Cultural Centre in London on the 16th of October 2009. Younee was one of the Korean artists in the UK in the programme.

Although the acoustics weren’t suited to musical performances Younee overcame the difficulty and produced something special.

On the strength of her musicality and my interest her agent Anthony Steinberg invited me to The Pizza Express Jazz Club in Dean Street in London on the 27th of October 2009 for the launch of her “TRUE TO YOU” CD.

In this intimate venue she performed with the Richard Niles Quartet. I was completely taken by her performance. She played Bach, sang the Beatles, Rolling Stones, standards and of course her own compositions (co-written with Richard Niles) from the new CD.

My enthusiasm for her performance must have been noticed by Richard Niles and Anthony Steinberg because I was subsequently invited to visit Richard’s studio on the 6th of November 2009.

I went with the proprietor of THE EAST and spent a very pleasant few hours in the company of Younee, Richard and Anthony. Younee showed her skills with an impromptu performance. I was amazed at the talent Younee possesses for someone so young.

She comes from Seoul in South Korea and is not to seen as “A KOREAN SINGER” but “A SINGER FROM KOREA” who is a gifted musician and performer. Without doubt she will make inroads into the world of music in the West. She is affectionately known as “Key’s Piano” in Korea.

Younee does not follow any particular genre when it comes to music. She is creating her very own genre. Very few artists have this particular ability to do so but she is definitely one of them.

Younee is virtuoso pianist and a versatile artist with rare musical talent.
Her studies began at the age of three, majoring in classical piano over the next twenty years, culminating in being awarded a BA in Classical Piano at Yonsei University in Seoul-on of the top two universities in South Korea.

At very young age-about five years- she began to discover why certain melodies captured peoples’ imaginations whereas others didn’t. She also discovered the English language which led to enjoying music of Beatles, Rolling Stones and others-hence her including them at her gigs.

At this stage she couldn’t understand English but was struck with the important thought that “Melody” was a language, a communication tool and made a statement.

Younee is remarkable indeed becoming a Professor of Music at prestigious Seoul Culture and Art University during her twenties. She studied Classical Piano under the renowned teacher Soo Jung Shin, a judge at he 2009 Leeds International Piano Competition and won numerous awards such as Yu Jae Ha Singer Songwriting contest in Korea, the UK Songwriting competition and the VH1 international competition.

Such successes have led to two CDs being released in Korea and her first English language CD for the Western market.

Younee has given numerous classical concert performances with well known orchestras. Her many television appearances have presented her own music. Younee is uniquely placed as not only being a highly trained classical musician but is equally comfortable in rock, pop and jazz.

Rather than being restricted by the Korean music industry she has shown determination and foresight by not renewing her recording contract.

Younee became the first Korean artist to fully utilize Myspace and the internet to establish herself as an independent artist. Through a German fan she became a Myspace friend of Grammy Winning American pianist Bob James.

When James performed on a Korean TV show on EBS TV, he invited Younee to play his demanding piece for piano four-hands (video available on youtube, http://www.youneeversal.com/).

When she related her desire to become an international artist, James recommended London based producer Richard Niles (http://www.richardniles.com/).

Younee was already aware of Richard Niles’ impressive career and his work with Ray Charles, Paul McCartney and Pat Metheny.

Upon contacting Richard he was extremely encouraging. As he had worked in jazz, rock, pop and classical music, here was someone who could become an ideal musical collaborator and give her solid direction as a producer.

They began to write songs together using Skype with Niles in his London office and Younee in her bedroom studio in Seoul. The result is her first Western album, “True To You”. They formed a label, cheekily named ‘Youneeversal International’.

After a trip to L.A. where Younee and Niles performed an acclaimed showcase, they released the single “Home To You” which reached the Top 20 of the US Independent Radio chart.

Younee toured England with the Richard Niles Quartet showing her musical diversity-pop, jazz and classical, a “Total Music Experience”. This concept gives Younee the opportunity of unifying all her musical elements under one roof.

They performed on the 24th of October at The Stables, Wavendon (the home of legendary jazz musicians Cleo Lane and John Dankworth) and the album “True To You” was officially launched at London’s Pizza Express Jazz Club, Dean Street, Soho for three nights between the 27th and the 29th of October and the 30th of October at Pizza On the Park. Younee also performed a Solo Classical Recital at the Vortex on the 1st of November. Her last performance was on the 8th of October at The 606 Club.

Younee has achieved many firsts for an artist from Korea-a rejection of musical restrictions and has crossed the all important barrier into the Western musical market-more especially with the compositions in English.

Quotes on Younee

“True to you will be a smash! Great songs, great singing and playing, great arrangements, great production! What fun it must have to create this music.”
(Bob James – Grammy winning Jazz Pianist)

“Younee is certainly a talented young lady. The musician’s performances, as well as production work are of the highest calibre. All the best for the Younee’s album.”
(Richard Carpenter – of the Carpenters)

“Younee has a voice as sweet as it is passionate. Great musicianship and an honest approach to music and playing.”
(Liane Carrol - jazz singer - winner of the Ronnie Scott's Award and twice winner of the BBC Jazz Award)

The CD itself has thirteen tracks all of which make good listening and are easy to pick up on particularly:
“True to You” is the title track, which is especially catchy and would make a good single release.
“East West” is a vibrant song, which demonstrates feelings when opposites attract.
“Home to You” brings emotions to the fore and quite revealing.
“Here I Go Again”, which has a gospel feel to it is Younee’s own personal favourite.

How rare it is nowadays to meet an artist who combines charm, genuine talent, ability, worth and value in performance and personality without pomposity. These characteristics do not detract from her aspiration to succeed in becoming a role model in music. There is no doubt that the multi talented Younee is a rising star, growing in stature musically, who with the right exposure will become one of Jazz’s stalwarts and a recognised international artist.

Younee doesn’t need “The X Factor” or “The Wow Factor” because she is youneeQue.

For more information please contact Youneeversal International
Anthony Steinberg
07901 668 263
anthony@youneeversal.com
www.youneeversal.com

www.myspace.com/youneelondon
www.twitter.com/youneelondon

Bong Joon-ho, a South Korean film director and screenwriter

Bong Joon-ho (born September 14, 1969) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter.
He was born in Seoul and decided to become a filmmaker while in middle school, perhaps influenced by an artistic family (his father was a designer and his grandfather was a noted author.) He majored in sociology in Yonsei University in the late 1980s and was a member of the film club there. He liked Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Imamura Shohei at the time. In the early 1990s, he completed a two-year program at the Korean Academy of Film Arts. While there, he made many 16mm short films and his graduation work Memory in the Frame and Incoherence was invited to screen at the Vancouver and Hong Kong international film festivals.

In 1994 he directed the short film White People. His first feature film Barking Dogs Never Bite, part comedy and part cruel social satire, in 2000 had a low box office record but he became widely known in his home country for the next film Memories of Murder, based on the true story of the country's first known serial murders, in 2003. He attained both commercial success and critical acclaim through this film. The Host in 2006 was seen by a record ten million people in the country and was well received by the Cannes Festival. An amusing anecdote is told of him about The Host. In high school, he saw an unusual creature hanging down from a Han River bridge in Seoul and decided to make a monster film.

In 2008, he participated in the omnibus movie Tokyo ! (segment "Shaking Tokyo") with Michel Gondry and Leos Carax. His most recent film is Mother, the story of a mother who struggles to save her son from a murder accusation, which premiered at Cannes in 2009. He is planning to direct Le Transperceneige, an adaption of Jean-Marc Rochette and Jacques Loeb's comic of the same name.

"Mother" Synopsys
Hye-ja is a ginseng vendor and an unlicensed acupuncturist in a small town in southern South Korea. She dotes on her son, Do-joon, who is 27, unemployed, and mentally incapacitated on some level, which Hye-ja seems to ignore.
A high school girl is found dead on the roof of an abandoned building, and the local detectives arrest Do-joon based on circumstantial evidence. They coerce him to sign a confession and quickly imprison him. Hye-ja, distraught and convinced he is innocent, searches for the real killer, uncovering many secrets from the townspeople.

Park Chan-wook, South Korean Film Maker

Contemporary films tend to reflect Ethic values, which denote something’s degree of importance, with the aim of determining what action or life is best to do or live, or at least attempt to describe the value of different actions; it deals with correct conduct and good life, in the sense that a highly, or at least relatively highly, valuable action may be regarded as ethic “good” (adjective sense), and an action of low, or at least relatively low, value may be regarded as “bad”.

In collectivist countries within Asia, if a member expresses a value that is in serious conflict with the group’s norms, the latter may carry out various ways of encouraging conformity or stigmatizing the non-conformist behavior of its members.

That is why, I believe, many famous Asian artists and their masterpieces, which are based on national ideals such as patriotism, find difficulty in penetrating the European market as it is difficult to make onecountry believe the virtues of another.

However, despite extreme violence in his films, Park Chan-wook, who is regarded as one of the most acclaimed film makers in South Korea, has been extraordinarily successful in the European film industry with “The Vengeance Trilogy”, consisting of 2002’s Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003) and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005).

I met Park on 7th October at the Korean Cultural Centre UK in London.

He was about to launch his latest film “Thirst” in the UK and I was lucky enough to seek his views about the film’s philosophy.

Park grew up in Seoul and studied Philosophy at Sogang University, where he started a cinema-club called the ‘Sogang Film Community’ and published a number of articles on contemporary cinema.

Originally intending to be an art critic, upon seeing “Vertigo” he resolved to try to become a filmmaker.

Throughout Park’s “Revenge Trilogy”, the movies have generated extreme reactions from both viewers and critics.

Some reviews have blasted it as a crudely described black comedy while others applauded it as a masterpiece of human observation.

Thirst (2009) the new film from director Park Chan-wook is already a box officesmash in Korea.

Thirst was honoured with the Prix du Jury at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival.

The film tells the story of a priest, who is in love with his friend’s wife, turning intoa vampire through a failed medical experimentand soon plunges into a world of sensual pleasures, finding himself on intimateterms with the Seven Deadly Sins.

Synopsys

Sang-hyun is a priest who volunteers to participate in an experiment to find a vaccine for the deadly Emmanuel Virus (EV) with the hope of saving even one life. The virus kills him, but he is miraculously resurrected by blood transfusion. Unfortunately, the miracle comes with a seriousside effect: he turns into a vampire. Only a continual supply of fresh human blood can reverse the symptoms of EV infection. News of his marvelous recovery is quickly spread to the devout parishioners of Sang-hyun’s congregation and they begin to believe that the man has a miraculous gift for healing. Soon thousands more people flock to Sang-hyun’s services. While grappling with his disturbing new habit-and superpowers-Sang-hyun becomes attracted to Tae-ju, wife of Kang-woo, Sang-hyun’s childhood friend. The two begin an affair. When Sang-hyun pleads with her to run away with him she turns him down suggesting that they kill her husband instead. At first, Sang-hyun feels a newfound vigor by his insistent bodily desires, but soon, he is aghast to find himself sucking down blood from a comatose patient in the hospital. After attempting to kill himself he finds that he is drawn back to the taste of human blood against his will. Desperately trying to avoid committing a murder, he resorts to stealing blood transfusion packs from the hospital. He is powerless to stop the faithful who regard his vampirism as a sign of being touchedby God: having committed a mortal sin outof love, he figuratively and literally drown sin guilt……

What makes Park so different is his ability to generate norms within his work frame; such norms are rules for behaviour in specific situations, while values identify what should be judged as good or evil; groups, societies, or cultures have values that are largely shared by their members; the values identify those objects, conditions or characteristics that members of the society consider important, that is, valuable.

In this sense, again, what makes Park’s film so valuable is he actually creates norms based on human instincts and conceptual visualization rather than emotions or cultural influences, which might differ from one country to another, resulting inbeing less agreeable to each other.

In other words, in his films, actors take part in a culture even if each member’s personal values do not entirely agree with some of the normative values sanctioned within this culture, which leads them to decide to take a particular action.

This reflects an audience’s ability to synthesize and extract aspects valuable to them from the multiple subcultures to which they belong.

Within this kind of frame work, the audiences are only able to agree with the concept of “good” or “bad” rather than “how they feel”.

Thus evidencing how Park has through his skill avoided relative values, which may be explained as an assumption upon which implementation can be extrapolated, but agreeably approached to the absolute standard.

This standard is philosophically absolute and independent of individual and cultural views, as well as being independent as to whether an object is discovered to have it or not.

Value system....

I believe that this concept is what Asianfilm makers or entertainers need to think about before they plan to penetrate this culturally different European market.

Written by LEE Hyung-wook, Editor in Chief, The East (md@theeast.org)

An Evening with Korean Artists in the UK

I returned to the Korean Cultural Centre in London on Friday 16th of October 2009 to attend an evening of performances given by Korean artists in Great Britain.
Having seen the varied programme I really had an open mind as to how I would enjoy the experience. I was impressed at the diversity of talent that was displayed and the ability of the performers.
The programme opened with the Visual Art Project.
The five different artists’ work was surprising and interesting. Explanations of the various materials used together with the meanings and themes of the completed projects were presented.

Bada Song-Sculptor
She deals with contemporary issues of form and identity using sculpture, installation and painting and has exhibited on numerous occasions in the UK.

Sunju Park-Glass artist
Is a freelance glass artist and has recently completed commercial contracts. She specialises in fusing glass acid etching and painting in glass for free-standing sculpture.

Young-Shin Kim-bookbinder
She is a specialist in fine binding, book restoration and box making and was awarded the 1st prize and Mansfield Medal for the Best Book of the Year in the “Designer Bookbinders Competition” in 2003.

Soon Yul Kang-textile artist
She was awarded an MA at Goldsmiths College and has been a resident artist at the Kew Studio in Richmond since1998 returning annually to lecture at the Ewha Women’s University in Seoul. Her speciality is hand woven tapestries.

Kitty Jun-Im McLaughlin-painter
Kitty’s work is inspired by her experience of both British and Korean cultures. Layers of Korean Hanji paper embraces her Canvases.

Six performances then followed.

Poetry Reading by Hye Kyung Park
“The rain that fell in season”

A poem was read in Korean and English with a pictorial backdrop. The content was quite thought provoking.
Hye Kyung Park is an international writer, poet and columnist. In 2006 she published her first book of collected poems in Korea titled “Togijangi House” and is the recipient of awards from the “Overseas Korean Foundation”.

Daegun solo by Dong Yoon Hwang
“Sangyeongsan”

“Dance of Wind”

The first piece is from “Yeongsan Hoesang” which is an example of traditional Korean music of the 15th century.
Daegum is a traditional bamboo flute producing a rich sound and was suited to both contemporary and traditional music. Both pieces were beautifully played.
Dong Yoon Hwang studied the Daegum at Dong-Guk University in Korea and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2008 and 2009.

Classical Vocal by Heimi Lee
“Qui la voce sua soave” from “I Puratani” by Vincenzo Bellini
“New Arirang” by Dong Ji Kim

Heimi Lee started training as a singer when she eleven years old. She attended Ewha Women’s University and was awarded an MA in Vocal Studies. In 2006 she enrolled at The Royal college of Music and her vocal studies. She then joined the Royal Academy of Opera in 2007 and has given live performances.
What a voice-I had forgotten that a human being could reach such perfect high notes.

Kayagum accompaniment by Ji Eun Jung with Dong Yoon Hwang and Sungmin Jeon (guitar)
“People of the Sea” –occupants of rural Korean towns-1970 to 1999

A series of photographs which were taken by Korean photographer Jung Hoi Jung were shown. He is Ji Eun Jung’s father.
A stunning selection of black and white stills which showed stark and uncompromising images of the hardship of daily life of people who rely on the sea for survival and for those living in rural communities. The music brought the poignancy of the situations depicted.
Ji Eun Jung is a professional Kayagum performer. She also studied at Ewha Women’s University in Seoul and furthered her education by being awarded an MA in Asian Music at Dong-Guk University.
Her performances in the UK include London City Hall and Oxford University. She has also given performances in Korea, Canada, USA, Hong Kong, Brazil and European countries.

Piano and vocals by Younee
“East West”
“True to You”
“Home to You”

What a change in style-These three songs took me by surprise. I didn’t expect the quality of music she produced. I am looking forward to seeing her perform live at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Dean Street in London on 27th of this month.
Younee is an accomplished singer, songwriter and pianist- a classical pianist who plays rock as well as Rachmaninoff. A graduate of Yonsei University in Seoul she has performed with Grammy Award pianist Bob James. She has had two successful albums in Korea and has recorded “True to You” with UK producer Richard Niles. She is currently touring in this country.

Zen dance by Sunnee Park based on traditional choreography accompanied by musicians Therese Bann and Piero Pierini.

“Celebration of life”-read by Philip Gowman (The Events Presenter )
Emptiness
Velvet Dark and Serene/ Womb of Everything
You, a poor human being/Wake up!
Come, Come out of your self inflicted prison.
You are the World / The centre of the universe / The arena of this comedy
Hic et Nunc
Dawning, Beaming, Blowing /Vibrating, Crawling, Evaporating
Blossoming, Flowing, Flying / Whirling, Waning, Vanishing
What a Bliss!

A gong and drum producing strikingly simple sounds accompanied Sunnee Park as she ended the evening’s performances in a reflective mood-mesmerizing the audience with her fluidity of movement.
Sunnee Park was a member of a classical Korean troupe “Little Angels” from the age of eleven then became a member of the Korean Universal Ballet company. Having been awarded an MA in Dance and Music and a PHD in Korean Shamanistic Trance at Ochanomizu University she was a dance instructor in Tokyo and performed throughout Japan. She is currently studying for an MA in Dance Movement Roehampton, whilst working with children in London.

The evening was a resounding success and one to remember. The audience was given an insight of the talents of the Korean artists and performers in Great Britain.

PEOPLE #17: Via Trio, a Piano Trio Team

Via Trio is a piano trio team, whose music was released as two records in Korea, and has been full in play as a piano trio team. There are 3 members in Via Trio: the violinist and the leader, Joo Hee, Lee, the cellist Ji Yoon, Seo and the pianist Eun Hye. This time their new record "Via Trio International version- we go to Europe to play Arirang" came out. And as the title of the record indicates, they had really been to European streets to play their songs for 35 days.

Interviewed by Judy Jung (judyjazz@naver.com)

On July 22 we, Via trio, took the first step on Frankfurt, Germany. And we first opened a house-concert, playing the songs of our new album , where we lodged at a private residence in Frankfurt. After that, Via Trio continued to give a performance in many streets, churches and christian Institutions in Europe according to prearranged plan until August 25: the streets of Baden-Baden, Festival d’Avignon (especially we were the only Korean participants in this festival), Heidelberg, Berlin, Prague, the square of National Theater of Paris (Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris) and Notre Dame de Paris, and Edinburgh Festival. And Berlin Sarang Church, Rotterdam church in Netherlands, the Salvation Army's shelter for homeless people in London, Korean Festival held in Kingston, Onjeonhan Church in London.

From our childhood we had a longing for Europe without special reason. However, as time goes by we could recognize the reason why we had yearned for Europe for a long time. Since there exist a variety of ethnic and cultural differences among European countries, we thought they could respect each other's cultural diversity. We believed that the cultural openness toward those who have various cultures and customs allows many artists to come out. Therefore, we, Via Trio, can be confident that our songs will be accepted to European people without cultural barriers.

To be frank with you, what we concentrate on with the greatest care is the arrangement. From the time of being planned we had a distinctive idea of playing “Arirang”, which is the most beloved traditional song among Koreans. In addition we firmly believed that our melody could definitely be attractive to European people. However, we had to think over the way of making them become familiar with our songs. Accordingly, we searched for our songs that had similar melodies and lyrics with European songs. To our surprise through this process, we could find out the suitable songs possible to match ours, so we were able to blend ours with theirs, arranging the songs. We hoped that they could easily accept, feel and enjoy emotions and feelings of our melodies by blending ours and theirs.
Unfortunately The Korean music market has shrunk more and more. The classic music market, what is worse, is more serious. What causes the market to be depressed is that many Internet users are exposed to only the user-friendly Internet environment in which they could download illegally whatever songs they want to listen to without guilty. Thus, those who work in the field of music have been damaged financially. However, Via-Trio thought that a crisis is namely a chance. The experiences we built up in Europe raised our hope to overcome this crisis.

Our dream is ongoing and will be ongoing. We have a plan to come to Europe every year, until 10 years from now. This period may be in keeping with the period from Festival d’Avignon in July and Edinburgh Festival in August. It will be the optimal period to play our songs.

Our beginning was so weak. Actually it was very difficult for us to go up and down the stairs carrying a heavy electronic piano and speakers, to ask the use of electricity of nearby shops and to give a performance in front of many people in the streets of foreign countries. Moreover, since a performance in the street in Korea is still unusual, we, as Koreans, also had a difficulty getting over the momentary shyness. But we got to gain confidence gradually thanks to many people who gazed at us because they were attracted not by the outlandish costume and the different skin color from their view but by our Arirang mixed with their own ‘Arirang’s such as ‘Amazing Grace’, ‘Danny Boy’. So, We Via Trio, would like to express our heartfelt thanks to them. And we will be back. Again!

Visit: Via Trio Official website