Literaturnaya Gazeta / October 11, 2017

Что объединяет литературу России и Кореи? О влиянии Толстого и Достоевского и о том, какие книги стоит прочитать, чтобы прикоснуться к душе Cтраны утренней свежести, рассказывают корейские писатели – поэт О Сеён и прозаик Чо Хэчжин.

Literaturnaya Gazeta / October 11, 2017

Poet Oh Sae-young and novelist Cho Hae-jin at Moscow International Book Fair   Во время визита корейских писателей в Москву в Центре восточной литературы Российской государственной библиотеки состоялась встреча «Россия – Корея: Литературные переводы и обмены».

- / September 06, 2017

Корейская писательница Чо Хэчжин дебютировала в литературе в 2004 году и с тех пор издала пять книг, основная отличительная особенность которых – остросоциальная тематика и интерес к актуальным проблемам современного общества. Исключением не стал и роман «Я встретила Ро Кивана». В центре сюжета – история беженца из Северной Кореи, который отправился в Европу в поисках… не лучшей жизни, нет, а просто возможности жить: «Выжить – это была единственная цель его жизни… Выжить – это было безмолвное завещание матери, составленное на его имя». Вслед за главной героиней романа, от лица которой и ведётся повествование, мы рассматриваем судьбу этого одинокого и несчастного молодого человека сквозь увеличительное стекло, проходим шаг за шагом весь его путь от незаконного пересечения границы до получения желанного статуса беженца. «Я читаю его дневник и, изучая его жизнь, пытаюсь разобраться в своей» – так определяет свою странную связь с этим человеком главная героиня.

list_Books from Korea / -

Sibling Survival: A Forest That No One Has Seen by Cho Haejin Author's Profile By Yang Yun-eui on Oct 27 2014 20:02:00 Vol.22 Winter 2013   A Forest That No One Has Seen Cho Haejin Minumsa Publishing Group 2013 192pp. ISBN 9788937473012     A boy named Shin Hyun-su is declared dead because of his mother’s debts. When a large explosion occurs at a subway station in K city, the moneylenders try to get compensation by claiming that Hyun-su is one of the victims. Mi-su, who is seven years older than Hyun-su, is kept in the dark and saddened by the sudden death of her brother. Mi-su spends a lonely childhood and becomes a desk clerk at a building. She begins a relationship with Yun, a security guard, but it is not enough to make up for her loneliness. Meanwhile, Hyun-su becomes a broker for forging documents. Having turned 18, he is almost an adult. But he cannot get employment since he is officially dead to society. Even so, he does not turn into a vengeful monster. He looks up his sister in her studio apartment and quietly watches over her. Hyun-su is engaged in an act of ultimate good will. This is when the reversal of roles begins. It is the abandoned brother who protects his sister. In the final scene, the siblings find each other at long last in the forest. The forest is a place of good will. The siblings have discovered a secret storage for the abandoned and the left behind. They do all they can to look after each other. Their pure intentions are what help to keep the forest together. The author reminds us to think of the forest when our lives are threatened by the evil forces of the cruel world. Share. Twitter Facebook Google Email .

_list Books from Korea / February 17, 2015

 The Journey to Meet Lo Kiwan Author's ProfileBy Cho Haejin on Feb 17 2015 11:04:42 Vol.26 Winter 2014I Met Lo Kiwan is my second novel. It tells the story of three principal characters: Lo Kiwan, who leaves North Korea for Belgium and applies for refugee status there; South Korean writer Kim, who goes on a wild-goose chase after Lo Kiwan in Belgium, and later, England; and Park Yoon-cheol, who aids Lo Kiwan and brings Lo and Kim together. What connects these seemingly random characters is their pain. Each suffers from the guilt that they owe their lives to another’s sacrifice, or the feeling that they are somehow responsible for another’s death. United by this shared guilt, the three characters find ways to heal each other. At least, that is what I hoped for when I wrote this novel.Lo Kiwan is a North Korean defector who goes to Belgium by way of Yanbian. After losing his mother in Yanbian, Lo suffers from survivor’s guilt, only to find that he must battle again for his survival, this time against social exclusion and the language barrier as a foreigner. After many trials and a lengthy wait, he finally gains refugee status and leaves for England in hope of a better life.Kim, the other main character, is the head writer for a popular, human interest-based television program that relies on viewer donations. She quits her job one day after discovering that one of the program’s subjects has met a terrible fate because of her good intentions. Leafing through a weekly magazine, Kim chances upon an interview with Lo Kiwan. His paradoxical pain at having chosen life after his mother’s death resonates deeply with Kim, and she decides to go search for him to hear now he found an answer to pain. Kim’s journey to meet Lo Kiwan is, in this sense, a journey of self-discovery.Park Yoon-cheol is a former doctor who left South Korea for political reasons during the military dictatorship, and acts as an interpreter for Lo Kiwan during his refugee application process. Park also provides vital information about Lo Kiwan to Kim when she comes looking for Lo in Belgium. Haunted by his wife’s secret euthanasia, Park helps Lo because he identifies with Lo’s survivor’s guilt.What I’ve explained above is why I do not consider I Met Lo Kiwan as a political novel, but rather as an attempt to answer the question of whether we can truly understand another person’s suffering, or to what extent solidarity is possible. I believe that there is a Lo Kiwan in all of us in the sense of feeling like a lonely outsider, and I wanted to highlight this human side of Lo Kiwan. Ultimately, I wanted to explore the possibility of forging a true connection that goes beyond mere sympathy through the solidarity of the three characters.by Cho Haejin * Cho Haejin (b. 1976) debuted in 2004. Her notable works include the short story collection City of Angels and the novel An Infinitely Wonderful Dream. She won the Shin Dongyup Literary Award in 2013 for I Met Lo Kiwan. Twitter Facebook Google Email .