A person watches a news broadcast showing file footage of Korean author, now Nobel laureate, Han Kang at a train station in Seoul, Thursday. AFP-Yonhap
President Yoon Suk Yeol and lawmakers across the political spectrum congratulated author Han Kang on winning the country's first Nobel Prize in literature.
Yoon praised Han for transforming the country's historical wounds into great literary works and raising the value of Korean literature. Earlier, the Swedish Academy lauded Han's work for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”
“I send my heartfelt congratulations to author Han Kang on winning the Nobel Prize in literature. It is a monumental achievement in the history of Korean literature and a national milestone that all Koreans should celebrate,” Yoon wrote on his Facebook page, Thursday, during his visit to Laos to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
Han's unexpected victory united lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, as politicians across the political spectrum quickly came forward to commend her.
Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), congratulated Han for creating a miracle like the "Miracle on the Han River," referring to Korea's meteoric rise from being one of Asia's poorest nations to one of the region's richest countries.
“Many used to believe that South Korea cannot win a Nobel Prize in literature due to language and nationality barriers, but Han Kang showed us nothing is impossible,” Choo said during a party meeting, Friday.
Han Dong-hoon, leader of the PPP, wrote on his Facebook page that he had first encountered Han during her stint as a host of an EBS Radio audiobook reading program, adding that he would listen to the audiobooks read by Han. “Who knew this day would come?” he said.
Rep. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), said he hopes Han's Nobel Prize in literature “provides great encouragement to the people.”
“It's (such) great news for us that it sends shivers of joy radiating through my entire body. Congratulations to Han Kang who demonstrated the power of Korean literature and transformed the painful scars of our modern history into great pieces of literature,” Lee wrote on his Facebook page.
Rep. Cho Kuk, leader of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party, said the moment would be forever engraved in Korea's literary history. “Today is a day when Han Kang's sharp and bare sentences brought more light to the world,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Books by author Han Kang are displayed at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Thursday. AP-Yonhap
Politicians temporarily set aside their political differences and reacted with joy after learning the news.
The National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee Chair Rep. Chun Jae-soo paused the audit meeting on Thursday to share the news. He noted: “This honor marks the first time (for a Korean to win the Nobel Prize) since (the year) 2000, when late President Kim Dae-jung won the Nobel Peace Prize.” All lawmakers present at the meeting gave a round of applause after the announcement.
Culture critic-turned-lawmaker Rep. Kang Yu-jung of the DPK called on the government to refrain from interfering with cultural development, pointing out how author Han was once on a blacklist of professionals in culture and the arts. Han was included in the controversial list for holding liberal political views under the conservative Park Geun-hye administration. The blacklist cited the names of nearly 10,000 artists and institutions, including multi-awarded filmmaker Bong Joon-ho and actor Song Kang-ho.
“After Han wrote ‘Human Acts,' (which delved into the) stories of the victims of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, she was placed on the blacklist of artists. Being on that list meant less, if any, government support. The government should support but not interfere with art,” Kang said.