Han Kang speaks about her new book at a press conference in ths file photo taken in May 2016. Yonhap

Han Kang, the first Korean winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, was born in 1970 in the southwestern city of Gwangju as the daughter of novelist Han Seung-won.

She later moved to Seoul with her family and graduated from Yonsei University, majoring in Korean language and literature.

After her university graduation in 1993, she began her literary career as a poet by publishing four poems in the winter issue of the quarterly literary magazine "Literature and Society" while working as a reporter for a cultural magazine.

The following year, she made her debut as a novelist when her short story "Red Anchor" won a literary contest hosted by the Seoul Shinmun daily.

She later established herself as one of the most notable novelists in the Korean literary world, releasing various books of novels and full-length novels, such as "Yeosu," "The Fruit of My Woman," "Your Cold Hands," "Black Deer," "The Wind is Blowing" and "Greek Lessons."

In addition to novels, Han has engaged in diverse literary activities, spanning poetry, fiction and children's literature. She published a poetry collection, titled "I Put the Evening in the Drawer," and children's books, such as "My Name is Sunflower" and "Tear Box."

In 2016, she shot to fame by winning the Man Booker International Prize for fiction for "The Vegetarian." The story was initially serialized in the quarterly magazine "Creation and Criticism" in 2004 and was published as a book in Korea three years later.

From 2007 to 2018, she taught fiction writing to aspiring writers at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. Her students described her as "a professor who captivates students with her sensitivity and charisma."

Han is also renowned for her literary family background.

Her father is Han Seung-won, an author known for works such as "Aje aje bara-aje," "Chusa" and "The Life of Dasan." The senior Han is still working as a proficient writer at age 85. He published an autobiographical novel, titled "The Path of Humans," earlier this year.

The two Hans achieved a remarkable feat by becoming the first father-daughter duo to win the Yi Sang Literary Award, one of Korea's most prestigious fiction awards.

Han Kang's older brother, Han Dong-rim, is also working as a novelist.

Han Kang's most recent work is "We Do Not Part" (2021), which portrays the tragedy of a 1948 civilian massacre on Korea's southern island of Jeju from the perspective of three women. The novel won her the Prix Medicis award for foreign literature, one of the four major literary awards in France, last year and the Emile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature, also a French award, in March of this year.

During a press conference held in November that year, Han revealed that it took her seven years to complete the story. "When I did that, it was the happiest moment for me," she said.

Since her recent novels, ranging from "Human Acts" and "We Do Not Part," were mostly about the darkness and wounds of modern Korean history, Han also said she would like to move on to brighter and warmer stories.

"I've had enough of feeling cold, as it snows so much in 'We Do Not Part.' I would like spring to come," she added. (Yonhap)