[News UP] Han River won the Nobel Prize in Literature...What's the unexpected background?

■ Host: Anchor Yoon Jae-hee
■ Video connection: Kim Heon-sik, cultural critic

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News UP] when quoting.

[Anchor]
Let's listen to the meaning of this award in detail by linking the unexpected achievements that came to our literary world, cultural critic Kim Heon-sik. The critic is here, right?

[Kim Heon-sik]
Hello.

[Anchor]
Through the official YouTube of the Han River Writers' Nobel Committee, he expressed his acceptance speech, saying, "I'm surprised and honored." What was your reviewer like after seeing the announcement last night?

[Kim Heon-sik]
I was very surprised when I heard the story, and I didn't know it would come this soon. In particular, I was very happy that Han Kang's acceptance speech came out quickly. And most of all, I thought that it was the power of Korea. Because it is easy for world artists to talk about their world of work, but Han Kang's efforts and power of senior artists were his inspiration. Especially in the report.Ma is not talking about anyone, but rather the efforts of the entire writers, rather than choosing some names that have inspired me, it is a fruit, and I was impressed by the humble interview, and I thought he was also a Korean writer.

[Anchor]
How can we interpret the background of Han Kang's award?

[Kim Heon-sik]
In the case of the Nobel Prize for Literature, there were many perceptions that various evaluations and reputations needed to be changed. That's why I think Han Kang wasn't the right person. First of all, in order to be recognized for its workability, it is necessary to combine human universality with each country, especially Korean achievement and historical culture. I think this is why Han Kang's work was selected. In particular, vegetarian, boy is coming, and the recent work does not say goodbye, which is mainly resistance to violence but also expresses individual change and willingness to do so, so it can be seen as having good universality and individuality. Therefore, Hallymwon was evaluated as an intense work against historical trauma, and especially in the case of writer Han Kang, it seemed worth it as a Nobel Prize winner because he showed a world of convergent literary works that were highly recognized for their literary qualities because they combined novels and poetry literature together.

[Anchor]
Han Kang won the Man Booker Prize a few years ago for being a vegetarian, and I'm also curious about what kind of writer she is. Please tell me more about it.

[Kim Heon-sik]
I was born in November 1970 to a family of writers in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province. He is a poet and novelist. He first debuted as a poet and later as a novelist. Since then, he has shown various literary activities such as creating various novel collections, short stories, and even fairy tales such as Greek time. In the past, it was blacklisted in the literary world. His father is Han Seung-won, a novelist who wrote Agase Barase, her husband Hong Yong-hee is a literary critic, and her brother and younger brother are also in the literary world. Writer Han Seung-won said that he passed me a long time ago, and sometimes he was surprised by Han Kang's sentence and became jealous. I think I can say that he is a general artist who is known to have excellent piano and singing skills as well as literature because of his diverse talents.

[Anchor]
This is the first Nobel Prize in literature not only for Koreans but also for Asian women, so I think this award is even more meaningful.

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's right. It was 24 years ago when former President Kim Dae Jung won the Nobel Prize. Beyond the Nobel Peace Prize, there was an expectation that Korean winners should come out in other fields such as science and literature, but it was repeatedly frustrated. Especially in the case of literature, I thought it would work, but there were many times when it didn't work. It is meaningful because it has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, which will give Korean literature global status beyond the Nobel Peace Prize, and it is natural that Han Kang is praised as a pioneer in Korea, noting that the New York Times is the first Korean winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. In the sense that Korean literature is expanding the horizons of pioneering world literature, given that it was recognized this time, it is a change that reflects a new trend that has become younger from the perspective of the Nobel Prize for Literature, so rather than receiving the help of the Nobel Prize for Literature, we think that Hanlimwon was helped by Korean literature and Han Kang writers.

[Anchor]
As mentioned earlier, he won the Man Booker Prize, and a French publisher said that he thought Han Kang's work would one day win the prize. Is it possible to see Han Kang's work being recognized to some extent overseas?

[Kim Heon-sik]
First of all, we talk about this a lot. There is a lot of interest in Korean literature in foreign countries, but there is a lot of talk that there was no known opportunity. So, first of all, the level of translation has increased a lot. As Deborah Smith was recognized at the Man Booker Prize while translating Vegetarian, I learned about the works of Han Kang, the true value of Korean literature in Europe. It can be said that it has been helpful to win several awards at the Literature Awards. There was the Man Booker Award that I mentioned earlier.Ma recently won the Foreign Literature Award for "Not Say Goodbye" in 2023 and also won the French Asian Literature Award this year. In this way, the European side has been recognized for its true value, especially by receiving the award. Because the role of translation and the history of being recognized by them were added, it was not a sudden achievement one day.

[Anchor]
Last night, a large domestic bookstore site was once paralyzed. I think bookstores will be very busy today, but I think this award will be an opportunity to revitalize not only our literary world but also writers. What do you think?

[Kim Heon-sik]
First of all, overseas publishers are very interested in our work. That's why overseas publishers are likely to flood in a huge amount. Interest in our writers is likely to explode, and conditions such as Sun In-se will improve. And I think it will be a stimulus to our future generation of literature. In particular, there is a lot of interest in our female writers and poets. So I think the poetry field will probably receive more attention and the award will continue a lot. Furthermore, it seems to give vitality not only to K literature but also to K content as a whole, and it seems to have a positive effect on Korea's status, so it can be seen that it is brightening the vitality and future for Korea as a whole.

[Anchor]
I see. I'll stop listening to it. It was with cultural critic Kim Heon-sik. Thank you for talking today.