Novelist to donate royalties to earthquake relief in Japan

[한겨레] The novelist has sold a number of translated Japanese editions of her books, and also maintains ties to the country through travel

By Choi Jae-bong, Literature Correspondent

"I hope all of you remember that you are not alone. The weak need to unite to overcome anything, whether it is a natural disaster or a human-made one. I want you to remember that I'm here praying for you, and that there are a lot of people who are rooting for you and want to help."

In a Twitter post Thursday, popular writer Gong Ji-yeong, 48, announced her intention to donate royalties from translated editions of her novels published in Japan to Japanese people suffering as a result of the March 11 earthquake. In an interview with the Hankyoreh on Friday, Gong told of the message of hope and support she wanted to sent to Japanese readers and citizens.

On the motivation for her decision to donate the royalties, Gong said, "I thought that I should give something, and I finally hit on the idea that I happened to have royalties coming from Japan."

The amount of the donation will be considerable, as Gong has a substantial amount of back royalties for all of her novels, which have sold more than 100 thousand translated copies in Japan. Gong announced that she would be making an initial donation of one year's royalties all at once, after which she would see how things go before making a decision to extend the commitment. Her books "Our Time of Happiness," "The Things That Come After Love," and "My Wonderful House" have reportedly sold a respective 40 thousand, 70 thousand, and 10 thousand copies in Japan.

Gong has also developed a special affinity with someone living in Japan. Kaoru Hasuike, 55, who translated "Our Time of Happiness" into Japanese, was abducted in the late 1970s and taken to North Korea, before eventually being repatriated to Japan twenty-four years later. A character presumed to represent Hasuike appears in Gong's short story "Turning the Word Corner Barefoot," winner of the 35th Lee Sang Literature Prize this year. The story deals with issues of historical violence and destiny. "The Things That Come After Love" was published in South Korea and Japan in 2005 after being published serially in the Hankyoreh with popular Japanese novelist Hitonari Tsuji.

Gong was deeply troubled by the fact that many of the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami were lower middle class individuals in small cities, children without parents, and mothers clutching young infants.

In September 2010, Gong traveled to Tokyo to take part in an International P.E.N. meeting and commemoration of the publication of "My Wonderful House." After the event, she traveled to Sendai on the bullet train and had a delicious meal of salted pollack roe, she recalled, explaining that this memory may have made the terror of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami seem that much more real to her.

The words of her daily morning prayer have changed since the earthquake.

"Before, I would say, 'Thank you for not letting war break out over the night,' but now I've included earthquakes in there, too," she said.

Gang was particularly shocked by the situation with the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, where the situation remains out of control.

"It was human arrogance that brought about this disaster," she said. "This incident confirms the fact that nuclear energy is not the least bit safe."

At the same time, Gong said, "We need to use even just half of the money spent worldwide on space development and weapons development to develop environmentally friendly energy."

"Otherwise, our children have no future," she declared.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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