K-boom! South Korea’s art and high culture lands in Britain with a bang

The K-band Leenalchi, who mix traditional sung storytelling with dance and rap music, will make their first live appearance outside Korea in London. Photograph: Jarasum Jazz Festival

Kimchi, the fermented pickle, led the way, establishing a taste for colourful Korean food in Britain. It was followed by a youth wave of K-pop music hysteria. Then came those two international screen hits, Bong Joon-ho’s shocking 2020 Oscar winner Parasite and last year’s brutal television series Squid Game.

Now the influence of South Korea is spreading just as quickly across highbrow culture, with the launch of a season of K-music and visual art in London and a major exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum about to offer a kaleidoscopic vision of South Korean creativity.