Kim Seung-ok
Encyclopedia
Kim Seung-ok is a South Korea
n novelist and screenwriter.
, Japan, Kim Seung-ok returned to Korea after its liberation in 1945. There, he was raised in Suncheon
in Jeollanam-do
where he graduated from Suncheon High School. In 1960 he studied French Literature at Seoul National University
at a time that department and University were the center of intellectual discontent in Seoul
. While at Seoul National University
, Kim was a cartoonist for a Seoul newspaper and published his first major story at age 19 ("Practice for Life""). While a junior in 1962, Kim founded a literary Journal, The Age of Prose, and some of his first works were published there. Kim was an immediate literary success, a success that continued unabated until he was 25. His greatest success was Seoul, Winter, 1964, a work that crystallized a Korean sense of loss and meaninglessness attendant to the industrialization of Korea and resulting nihilism. In 1967 one of his works, Trip to Mujin, was adapted into the film Mist. Kim Seung-ok was the screenwriter, and director Kim Soo-yong won the Best Director award at the 14th Asia-Pacific Film Festival.
and Insect Woman (1972 film)
.
Kim was the first Korean writer to win both the Yi Sang Literature Prize (he won the inaugural award in 1977) and the Tong-in Literature Prize (In 1965, for Seoul, Winter, 1964), but after 1967 his creative energies began to dissipate and in 1979 he quit writing fiction.
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n novelist and screenwriter.
Biography
Born in OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan, Kim Seung-ok returned to Korea after its liberation in 1945. There, he was raised in Suncheon
Suncheon
Suncheon or Sunchon is the name of two Korean cities:*Sunchon, North Korea*Suncheon, South Korea...
in Jeollanam-do
Jeollanam-do
Jeollanam-do is a province in the southwest of South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Jeolla province, remained a province of Korea until the country's division in 1945, then became part of South Korea...
where he graduated from Suncheon High School. In 1960 he studied French Literature at Seoul National University
Seoul National University
Seoul National University , colloquially known in Korean as Seoul-dae , is a national research university in Seoul, Korea, ranked 24th in the world in publications in an analysis of data from the Science Citation Index, 7th in Asia and 42nd in the world by the 2011 QS World University Rankings...
at a time that department and University were the center of intellectual discontent in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
. While at Seoul National University
Seoul National University
Seoul National University , colloquially known in Korean as Seoul-dae , is a national research university in Seoul, Korea, ranked 24th in the world in publications in an analysis of data from the Science Citation Index, 7th in Asia and 42nd in the world by the 2011 QS World University Rankings...
, Kim was a cartoonist for a Seoul newspaper and published his first major story at age 19 ("Practice for Life""). While a junior in 1962, Kim founded a literary Journal, The Age of Prose, and some of his first works were published there. Kim was an immediate literary success, a success that continued unabated until he was 25. His greatest success was Seoul, Winter, 1964, a work that crystallized a Korean sense of loss and meaninglessness attendant to the industrialization of Korea and resulting nihilism. In 1967 one of his works, Trip to Mujin, was adapted into the film Mist. Kim Seung-ok was the screenwriter, and director Kim Soo-yong won the Best Director award at the 14th Asia-Pacific Film Festival.
Work
Kim is the quintessential outsider to systems, regardless of what systems he addressed. This was apparent in even his earliest works, which adopted the stance of romantic outsider. In his early works Kim shows a burning desire to escape the bounds of quotidian existence; he often does this through fantasy or hallucination. Kim quickly began to recognize the strength of social constraints, however, and his works began to reflect an inability to exceed these constraints. Kim's stance turned towards distance and nihilism, in which there was no such thing as a dream. The romantic outsider is replaced by atomistic narrators in uncaring society. Later works all detail the anomic lives of narrators who are trapped by modernizing society. Finally, just before he retired from fiction entirely, Kim attempted to use erotic passion in somewhat the same way he had used hallucination/fantasy in his earlier works. Kim's stories in this vein were not well received. Kim also co-wrote several Korean movies including Woman (1968 film)Woman (1968 film)
Woman is a 1968 three-part South Korean film directed by Kim Ki-young, Jung Jin-woo and Yu Hyun-mok. The film was based on ideas of Kim Ki-young's wife, Kim Yu-bong, and Kim directed the last third.-Synopsis:...
and Insect Woman (1972 film)
Insect Woman (1972 film)
The Insect Woman is an award-winning 1972 South Korean film directed by Kim Ki-young.- Synopsis :A melodrama about a professor under psychiatric care because of a mental breakdown due to the stress brought on by an extramarital affair.- Cast :* Yoon Yeo-jeong* Jeon Gye-hyeon* Nam Koong Won* Kim...
.
Kim was the first Korean writer to win both the Yi Sang Literature Prize (he won the inaugural award in 1977) and the Tong-in Literature Prize (In 1965, for Seoul, Winter, 1964), but after 1967 his creative energies began to dissipate and in 1979 he quit writing fiction.
Works in English
- Seoul: 1964, Winter in Land of Exile
Works in Korean
- Fantasy Notebook (Hwansang sucheop,1962)
- Fifteen Certified Preconceptions (Hwaginhaebon yeoldaseot gaji gojeong gwannyeom)
- Operation (Saengmyeong yeonseup, 1962)
- Seoul, Winter 1964 (Seoul, 1964 nyeon gyeoul, 1965)
- Journey by Night (Yahaeng)
- A Cup of Tea (Chana hanjan)
- Strong are the Goats (Yeomsoneun himi seda, 1966)
- The Moonlight in Seoul: Chapter 0 (Seourui dalbit 0 jang)