Scandals reshape publishing world

Shin Kyung-sook

Park Min-kyu

By Kwon Mee-yoo

It has been about three months since famed novelist Shin Kyung-sook admitted plagiarizing and the Korean literary circle is still suffering from the aftermath.

Shin is one of the most acclaimed and widely read novelists in Korea, who won the Asian Man Booker Prize. She is best known internationally for "Please Look After Mom," which was translated into 19 languages.

In June, novelist and poet Lee Eung-jun contributed to online news outlet the Huffington Post, claiming that Shin plagiarized passages of her 1996 short story "Legend" from the Korean translation of the late Japanese author Yukio Mishima's "Patriotism."

Shin denied the allegations at first, but later admitted copying phrases partially and publisher Changbi stopped printing the story.

"I sincerely apologize to the literary writer who raised the issue as well as all my acquaintances, and above all, many readers who read my novels ... Everything is my fault," Shin said in an apology.

Korea's top writer's plagiarism and the publishers coping with the issue in a half-hearted manner stirred up the Korean publishing world.

Changbi and Munhakdongne, two major publishing companies in Korea, suggested reform plans, and critics and civic groups held discussions on how to prevent further plagiarism, but the scandal persisted.

Earlier this week, another Korean author Park Min-gyu, famous for his witty and surrealistic twist to reality, admitted that he plagiarized two of his stories "The Sammi Superstars' Last Fan Club" and "A Nap."

Park admitted that he borrowed a part from an online post, "The Korean Baseball History Seen Reversely," for his "The Sammi Superstars' Last Fan Club," ignoring intellectual property rights. He also conceded that the Japanese comic "Silver Forest" and his story "A Nap" have similarities in plot.

Literary critic Seo Young-in said the plagiarism scandals muddle the order of the Korean publishing world. "The Korean literary world is centered on major publishers which have authoritative powers. Shin's scandal shook their foundations and sparked the need for a new order," Seo said. "Young writers starting new types of literary magazines and accepting commercial requests from the readers is an encouraging sign."

In June, a bimonthly novel magazine "Axt" was launched. Published by EunHaengNaMu Publishing, the magazine included young writers' short stories and novellas with short reviews, which is easier to read compared to traditional literary magazines.

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