Korean Novelist Criticizes Han Kang’s Nobel Win As “Shameful And Sad”

A civic group has taken action against her.

A South Korean novelist named Kim Gyu Na has received criticism for attacking writer Han Kang, the recipient of the 2024 Novel Prize for Literature.

Han Kang | JoongAng Daily

Han Kang’s win was historic as she is not only the first Korean but the very first Asian woman to win the literature Nobel prize in the 123 years of the award’s history. She is also only the second South Korean Nobel laureate. But the local novelist Kim (56) denounced her win claiming that most of Han Kang’s works distorted history.

Kim claimed that Han Kang’s depictions of state violence leading to civilian deaths during the Gwangju Uprising in May 1980 and the 1948-54 civilian uprising in Jeju Island were distortions. In a Facebook post, Kim called Han’s win “shameful” and “sad,” adding that it indicated a decline in the value of the Nobel Prize. Notably, Kim also had a problem with the Nobel Prize committee for selecting a woman as the winner this year.

In a separate Facebook post, Kim had also rebuked her only nephew for severing ties with her over her comments, criticizing his “leftist ideology.”

Citizens’ Solidarity for the Eradication of Deeply-rooted Corruption, a civic group in Korea, recently filed a complaint against Kim for her comments against Han Kang. The group has alleged that Kim violated the Special Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement. It was revised in December 2020 to penalize those make false claims about the Gwangju Uprising. She is also accused of online defamation as stipulated in the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

Meanwhile, Han Kang’s historical win has brought her applause from the world, including some of the biggest names in K-Pop. Read more about it here.