“Anti-ageing serum, this is good… collagen face masks… take these… just push your way through… now the queue — good luck!”
asserted
this → take → way
The Standard is being helped through K-Beauty emporium Olive Young, which despite it being nearly midnight, is heaving to such a degree that this lanky Englishman is in danger of being trampled underfoot by young Koreans.
asserted
Englishman → help → Koreans
Beauty never sleeps, and neither does Seoul.
asserted
Seoul → sleep → ?
With its Blade Runner ad screens and public Pop Art and hip shoppers, you might say it’s the modern equivalent of Swinging London, given its worldwide cultural impact.
uncertain
it → say → impact
K-Pop, K-Drama, K-Beauty, Squid Game, Parasite, Park Chan-wook, Son Heung-min (Spurs’ loss is advertising’s gain), K-Pop Demon Hunters… South Korea is booming.
asserted
Korea → boom → ?
Yet in this city of the future, history is never far away, as we are discovering on a trip deep into the country with the curators of a new exhibition called Korea at the British Museum to discover the creative heart and soul of the nation.
asserted
we → discover → nation
It becomes apparent that today’s K-everything is a continuation of 2,000 years of creative excellence — and a triumph over many scars.
asserted
everything → become → scars
“The show covers 300BC to 2019, but even though it’s a long period, there are certain patterns you see — Korean resilience and creativity,” says Sang-ah Kim, the lead curator, “because Korea neighbours China and Japan, they always adopted new technology and culture — but they transformed it.
asserted
they → cover → it
That kind of pattern survives.
asserted
kind → survive → pattern
[K-pop] is not the traditional form of Korean music but they found some new system of pop to show the world.
asserted
they → find → world
”
Heartful of Seoul
Seoul is surrounded by mountains.
asserted
Seoul → surround → mountains
Tigers would once roam down from the forests and pick off residents, though they remained a national symbol of courage and mischief, both crucial to Korean identity.
asserted
they → roam → identity
During the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945, the occupying forces hunted and wiped out the tigers — an attack on national pride — and demolished most of the old palaces and public buildings.
asserted
forces → occupy → palaces
But since the 1990s, many have been restored, including the Gyeongbokgung Palace in the centre of Seoul, now back to its original 1395 good looks.
asserted
many → restore → looks
Young Koreans are posing in Hanbok national dress for TikTok videos as we’re taken around what was the first royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty, a neo-Confucianist era that lasted to 1897 renowned for its veneration of education and refinement.
asserted
that → pose → education
Goofiness too; stone animals stick out their tongues and mock the solemnity.
asserted
animals → stick → solemnity
The king would sit in the centre of this image of harmony and authority, and showed how art can convey not just power but values.
asserted
art → sit → power
K-Pop Demon Hunters featured the same throne room image in one scene and trendy pop culture seems duty-bound to support historical appreciation.
asserted
culture → feature → appreciation
At the National Museum of Korea, BTS member RM is featured on captions drawing young fans’ attention to certain pieces; he is a huge artefacts fan.
asserted
he → feature → pieces
Behind the scenes, items bound for the exhibition in London are being meticulously worked on.
asserted
items → bind → London
Sang-ah’s job is to pluck a selection from a vast archive donated by the late Samsung chairman Lee Jun-hee.
asserted
job → pluck → hee
It includes gold and copper wings that were once attached to a crown — Jenny from Blackpink wore something similar in one of her videos — and a pair of gilt bronze burial shoes that look like Fendi Crocs.
asserted
that → include → Crocs
“It becomes apparent that today’s K-everything is a continuation of 2,000 years of creative excellence — and a triumph over many scars”
asserted
everything → become → scars
Back out in the museum itself — complete with robot guides to interact with — the other project curator, Yoojin Kwak Choi, takes us through the Celadon Gallery.
asserted
curator → interact → Gallery
Examples of this legendary ceramic style are bound for London, and she explains that its distinctive blue-green colour was developed in the unified Silla period (from AD 676 to 935) and was enough to even make the Chinese jealous.
asserted
Chinese → bind → 935
“It’s a subtle colour, very elegant and could only be achieved with perfect control of the glaze and the firing environment.”
uncertain
It → ’ → glaze
With motifs of the lotus flower appearing, they showed the turn the nation had taken from early Shamanism into Buddhism.
asserted
nation → appear → Buddhism
The Buddha speaks
asserted
Buddha → speak → ?
A bullet train ride south takes us to Gyeongju, a city that was once the capital of the Silla kingdom.
asserted
that → take → kingdom
Here the large burial mounds, almost Teletubbies-esque in colour and size, sit amid the bustle of restaurants and coffee shops.
asserted
mounds → sit → restaurants
Read More
As Silla gave way to the Goryeo Dynasty, Buddhism reached its apotheosis in Korea, and out in the mountains near here are some astonishing results.
asserted
results → read → mountains
The Haeinsa Temple is a World Heritage Site on Mount Gaya, and sports shiny reception lounges and cutting-edge research laboratories.
asserted
Temple → sport → lounges
Yet the main treasure housed here, the Tripitaka Koreana, seems to be preserved more by faith than technology.
asserted
treasure → house → technology
The Tripitaka is a collection of Buddhist texts engraved on to 80,000 wood blocks between 1237 and 1248, but is housed in a simple wooden building.
asserted
Tripitaka → engrave → building
In fact, as the charismatic director here, the Venerable Kyung Am, tells us as we are granted a rare look inside, the building utilises a clever mix of materials in the floor to ward off damp and vermin, while the architecture keeps the temperature cool.
asserted
architecture → tell → temperature
Still, he readily states that its remarkable preservation is, because, “we believe it is protected”.
asserted
it → state → ?
His assistants pull out a couple of blocks, they are in remarkable condition — enough to tingle your spine.
asserted
they → pull → spine
But even these national treasures are outdone by a subsequent visit to the Seokguram Grotto, on Mount Toham.
asserted
treasures → outdo → Toham
Up in the forest, this grotto houses a huge statue of the Buddha, and we are given special access to walk around it.
asserted
we → house → it
Korean craftsmanship and faith, suddenly come together: the construction of the inner chamber where this Buddha sits is such that the hush inside is not silence, but a vibration; truly, the statue feels alive.
asserted
statue → come → chamber
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
