Unexpected Nobel Prize for Literature...the world of publishing is a pleasant scream

[Anchor]
Although novelist Han Kang's novel is highly praised by European critics and readers, few experts predicted the Nobel Prize for Literature.

This is because the Nobel Prize for Literature has been stingy for Asian and female writers.

Reporter Park Soon-pyo's report.

[Reporter]
Han had a short interview with the Nobel Committee in English right after the Nobel Prize in Literature was announced.

At first, he confessed that he was so surprised and speechless, saying that he thought it was a phone fraud.

[Han Kang / Novelist: I was so surprised. It was around 8 p.m. just finished eating with my son, and it was a peaceful evening. I was really surprised.]

In fact, there were no experts or media predicting Han Kang's Nobel Prize for Literature.

Of the 121 Nobel Prize winners, only 18 are female writers, and only four are Asian writers, including Japan's Kenzaburo Oe.

Regardless of the completeness of the work or the recognition of the artist, the first Asian woman writer to win the Nobel Prize is such amazing news.

[Kang Ji-hee / Literature critic] I think there has been a trend of decentralization as these things, which were centered on Western cultures and were centered on men, changed. I think it's an important symbolic event in the literary world in the main stream that shows the flow of change with its wavelength.

The same goes for publishers and bookstores that are both welcoming and surprising.

Usually, in October, the reading season, the publishing industry prepares special exhibitions in advance, focusing on the expected winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

However, none of the domestic publishers that published Han Kang's books expected Han Kang's award, and they are belatedly screaming happily with limited edition plans.

[Yang Myung-sook / Kyobo Bookstore Gwanghwamun Branch: All the books that had about 200 books are out. We're going to have 100 to 300 copies today, and I think we'll use up all of that within today.]

The publishing industry expects Han Kang's Nobel Prize in Literature to create a literary boom and expand the base of Korean literature.

I'm Park Soonpyo of YTN.

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video: Joo Hye-min
Design: Lee Na-young