'I would like to live in peace quietly,' Han Kang tells Sweden's SVT

Screencapture of Han Kang in an interview with Swedish public television broadcaster SVT (SVT)

In an interview with Swedish public television broadcaster SVT, this year's Nobel Prize laureate in literature Han Kang said that she "doesn't want to be in the spotlight right now."

"I would like to live in peace quietly, and I need some time to reflect on what this prize means," Han told SVT.

According to the SVT report on Sunday, the interview took place at Han's home in Seoul and was conducted in English.

Regarding initial reports about her father's comments that she didn’t want to celebrate, Han responded, "No, I celebrated with my son with chamomile tea."

She further explained the misunderstanding: “When I called my father that morning, he said he was going to have a huge party with people in his village, and I didn’t like that. So I told my father, 'Please don't have that huge party. I want to (stay) quiet because there are many troubles in the world, and we should be more calm.'"

Following Han's Nobel Prize win on Thursday evening, her father and novelist Han Seung-won spoke to reporters at his home in Jangheung, South Jeolla Province, on Friday morning, where he said her daughter did not wish to hold a press conference.

Han also shared that her focus is on completing a novella and preparing her Nobel acceptance speech.

"I heard I have to write an essay for the ceremony. After I finish my novella hopefully by October, or the first two weeks of November ... afterward I'd like to, I have to write the essay to read at the ceremony," she said.

By Hwang Dong-hee(hwangdh@heraldcorp.com)