Nation celebrates Han Kang's historic Nobel Prize win

Korean novelist Han Kang, widely known for her 2007 literary work "The Vegetarian," won the country's first Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday.

Korean novelist Han Kang [JOONGANG ILBO]

Korean novelist Han Kang, widely known for her 2007 literary work "The Vegetarian," won the country's first Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday. Since the Swedish Academy, which organizes the prize, made the announcement, a joyous mood has erupted around the nation, with the achievement being recognized as not just a significant feat for the writer but also as an important moment for the entire nation.

For nearly three decades, the now 53-year-old author has published more than 20 works along the themes of historical trauma and human fragility. Chairman of the Nobel Committee Anders Olsson described the author as having “a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead.”

During Thursday’s news conference in Stockholm, Mats Malm, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said his organization applauds Han’s complex explorations of the human race, adding that she received the prize “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

Korean author Han Kang poses for a photograph with her book "The Vegetarian " at a photocall in London on May 15, 2016, ahead of the announcement of the winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature 2024, it was announced on Thursday. [AFP/YONHAP]

Career beginnings

Han's inspiration reportedly comes from a photo that her father, Han Seung-won, who is also a novelist, showed Han when she was 13. Pictured were the brutal realities of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, a 10-day pro-democracy movement led by students during former president and then-brigadier general Chun Doo-Hwan’s (1931-2021) military coup. The death toll, largely civilians, is reported to be as high as 2,000.

Though she did not experience the brutal history of Korea firsthand, like many other Koreans, she too was shaped by such historical traumas and was able to translate them into masterful prose.

The six short stories in her first published fiction piece, “Love of Yeosu” (1995), explore the violence and loneliness of characters trapped in tragic settings.

Her first novel, “Black Deer” (1998) is about two men setting out to look for a woman with amnesia who has run off nude. Her second, “Your Cold Hands” (2002), explores the duality of humans through an artist who obsesses over plaster casts of female bodies.

She has often told the press that the movement changed her life, adding that it was "a trigger for me to start asking fundamental questions about humanity."

Such themes are also explored in her most representative work "The Vegetarian” — a work that won the International Booker Prize with the English translation by Deborah Smith in 2016.

Flowers line Han Kang's independent bookstore in Jongno District in central Seoul as fans continue to send in to show their affection towards the novelist for winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. [YONHAP]

Flowers line Han Kang's independent bookstore in Jongno District in central Seoul as fans continue to send in to show their affection towards the novelist for winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. [YONHAP]

“Writing books is a way for me to ask questions, and through ‘The Vegetarian,’ I wanted to portray a woman who vehemently refuses to be part of humanity,” she said during her winner’s speech for the International Booker Prize.

“The Vegetarian” is the first of Han’s books published in English and also her first book to be adapted into a movie. It was released under the same title in 2009. Written about a married female who quits meat in rejection of violence, the book viscerally depicts ways that society, patriarchy and relationships can ruin a person.

Following the announcement of her win, the Swedish Academy interviewed Han, who had just finished having dinner with her son at her home in Seoul.

“I’m so surprised and I’m absolutely honored,” she said, adding that she hoped the news would bring joy to “Korean literature readers and my writer friends.” She also added that she “grew up with books” and that “all writers, all their determination and all the efforts” have been her inspiration.

The author added that she wanted to “celebrate quietly” by drinking tea with her son.

Diving into Han's literary world

For those wanting to delve into Han's literary works, the writer recommended starting with her most recent books.

“I think every writer likes his or her most recent books,” she said. “I feel a good start could be “We Do Not Part” (2021).

It is her latest work, which is also known as “I Do Not Bid Farewell.” The book is about the love, life, grief and loss surrounding the 1948 Jeju April 3 Uprising, told through the voices of three women.

Its French edition, translated by Choi Kyung-ran and Pierre Bisiou, was released by Editions Grasset and won the prestigious Prix Medicis award last year. The English translation is slated for release in January 2025 under the Random House Publishing Group.

More of her later works include “The Wind Blows, Go” (2010), which is about friendship and grief after the mysterious death of a female artist.

“Human Acts” (2014) deals directly with the Gwangju Uprising, providing an in-depth look into its victims. Writing this book was especially difficult for her mentally, as Han said she “cried every day, sometimes, cried the whole day after writing just three lines,” according to this paper's Korean affiliate, the JoongAng Ilbo. The English translation by Smith was published by Hogarth Press in 2016.

“The White Book” (2016) was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2018. It is an elegy to the narrator’s sister, who died shortly after birth. It deals with grief and also delves into the hypotheticals of human fate. An English translation by Smith was released in 2019 through the Random House Publishing Group.

“Greek Lessons” (2011), whose English translation by Smith and Emily Yae Won was published in English last year by Hogarth Press, is about the bond between a mute student and the student’s teacher. They find common ground in the deeply embedded pain of their pasts. The book was selected as a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Time and the Chicago Public Library.

One of Han's works is also stored as part of an art project at Oslo's Central Library in Norway. Han is one of 100 worldwide authors participating in the Future Library project by Scottish artist Katie Paterson in The Silent Room located at the library.

The project began collecting original manuscripts by renowned authors from across the globe in 2014 and will continue to do so until 2114, storing them inside the womb-like room made from 100 layers of carved wood from the Norwegian forest.

The manuscripts will be printed in a limited-edition format using paper made from the 1,000 trees planted in the Nordmarka Forest in Oslo just for the project. In 2019, Han was selected as the fifth author to store her manuscript, titled "Dear Son, My Beloved." It will be published in 2114.

From blacklist to national icon

Born in November 1970 in Gwangju, South Jeolla, Han moved to Seoul and attended Pungmun Girls' High School. She then graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in Korean Literature. About a decade ago, the writer's works were blacklisted by former president Park Geun-hye's administration. Artists and cultural figures who were critical of the administration were blacklisted and denied access to funding.

Han, however, proved that great literature can speak beyond the barriers of censorship.

Han's 84-year-old novelist father stood proudly before local press on Friday in his hometown of Gwangju, South Jeolla. Han's father appeared on behalf of his daughter, who said she wished not to hold a press conference in an era "where countless deaths happened in the war between Russia and Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Palestine."

“Now, my daughter has a global sensibility, transcending her previous sensibility as a writer living in Korea.”

The father said that his daughter’s achievement came sooner than expected and attributed the achievement to her writing technique — extremely delicate, beautiful and sad.

Han Kang, right, and her father, in 2005 [JOONGANG ILBO]

“My daughter is now 53, and I thought she would be in the Swedish Academy’s consideration around four years from now because one laureate won the prize at 57,” her father said. “My daughter embodied beautiful literature by combining mystical elements with magical realism. Although older generations call realism an author's grave, young writers like my daughter are not ashamed of incorporating realism into their pieces but consider it a merit.”

Han is the first Asian woman and the first Korean to win the Nobel Prize in Literature and second Korean to win the Nobel Prize, following former President Kim Dae-jung (1924-2009), who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000. The laureate will receive 11 million Swedish krona ($1.06 million), and is also expected to receive a huge boost to book sales with the spotlight now cast on her previous works.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE, LEE JIAN [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]