‘Shocked and grateful’: South Korea’s Han Kang speaks up on Nobel Literature Prize

SEOUL - Ms Han Kang, the first South Korean and Asian to be decorated with the Nobel Prize in literature, spoke officially for the first time on Oct 11 evening through her publishers, expressing shock and gratitude towards “enormous waves” of congratulations from across the world.

“I am grateful for being chosen as the laureate. The amount of warm words of congratulations that poured in throughout the day like an enormous wave surprised me,” said Ms Han in a statement released by her publishers, Munhakdongne Publishing and Changbi Publishers.

“I was first shocked at the news, and the sense of reality and emotion slowly began to sink in as I hung up the call (of the announcement),” she said.

The publishers said Ms Han will not be holding a press conference in Seoul, a decision her father and novelist Han Seung-won, had mentioned earlier in the day.

Mr Han met with local reporters at his home in Jangheung County, South Jeolla Province, where he said: “I initially advised her to choose one of her publishers and hold a press conference, and she agreed. However, when we spoke again this morning (Oct 11), she told me she had changed her mind.”

Explaining her decision, the father said: “Her perspective had shifted from that of a writer living in Korea to a more global one. She said that with the wars raging between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, with deaths being reported every day, she could not hold a celebratory press conference. She asked for understanding in this matter.”

The two publishers said Ms Han plans to share more thoughts through her acceptance speech at the award ceremony, which will take place in Stockholm on Dec 10.

Munhakdongne Publishing has published Ms Han’s novels We Do Not Part, The White Book and Greek Lessons while Changbi Publishers has released The Vegetarian and Human Acts.- THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK