"I listen to a lot of songs" by Han Kang, who re-examines the music he listened to when writing.

AFP = Yonhap News

As writer Han Kang became the first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, her recommended music is being re-examined.

After the publication of the full-length novel "I Don't Say Goodbye" in 2021, Han Kang appeared on the official YouTube channel of Munhakdongne, a publishing company, and introduced the "songs that stayed with me" he heard at the time of writing.

Writer Han Kang said, "I usually listen to a lot of songs. The way I listen to music varies from time to time when I write, but I quietly refine it and turn on the music loudly as if my ears were going to fall off."

{Doesn't Say Goodbye' is Han River's most recent work that unravels the tragedy of the Jeju April 3 incident from the perspective of three women. Last year, the work received the "Medici Award," one of France's four major literary awards.

Han Kang said she shed tears after hearing Akdong Musician's song "How Can I Love the Breakup, I Love You" after writing the first draft of "I Don't Say Goodbye." "I finished writing my first draft and took a taxi, and this song was playing," he said. "The lyrics of the last part came up with a completely different meaning, so I cried without realizing it."The part is

, 'How can I wait for you later until the love as deep as our sea dries up?' Han Kang said, "It's impossible for the sea to dry up, but I thought of such an image," and recalled, "I remember crying in a taxi like a person with a story."

Kim Kwang-seok's "My Song" was also introduced, "I listened to it especially during a time when I worked hard on it." Writer Han Kang said, "It was a time when I said, 'I might forget Korean' because I didn't meet anyone, didn't talk, and didn't listen," adding, "I call it 'rehabilitation time,' and I've become very healthy and written a lot by dieting and exercising my strength."

In addition, Han Kang also recommended Andra Ray's "Rise Up," Oh Hyuk's "Moonryang Representative Agility," and Arbo Pert's "Mirror in the Mirror."

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team