Young Koreans embrace Han Kang's themes of resilience, empathy

Singer HYNN has engraved the phrase "I will pass on only what is pure" on the in-ear monitor she wears while performing. The small photo in the box shows a note left by a young reader at a Han Kang book display in Kyobo Book Centre in central Seoul. Korea Times photo by Yang Seung-jun

Singerg Park Hye-won, 26, known by her stage name "HYNN" and for her hit song "The Lonely Bloom Stands Alone," drew inspiration for her name from Han Kang's novel "The White Book."

The Korean title of "The White Book" is "흰 (Huin)," meaning white. She chose the name "HYNN" because its pronunciation closely resembles the Korean title of the novel.

According to an official from her agency, New Order Entertainment, Park read "The White Book" around 2018, when the novel was first published. She received the book as a gift from a friend while she was feeling anxious as she prepared for her debut as a singer.

Park was deeply moved by the line, “Even if I become tainted, I will pass on only what is pure." Reflecting on this, she said, "After reading that sentence, I made a resolution: 'No matter what storms or wounds may come, I will make music with a pure, sincere heart.'"

This is just one example of how young artists are finding inspiration in Han’s literary works, marking the emergence of the "Han Kang Kids."

Han Kang's "powerful poetic prose that confronts historical trauma and exposes the fragility of human life" has served as a guiding compass for young K-pop stars around the world.

BTS member V (real name Kim Tae-hyung, 29), who enlisted in the military last winter, also read Han Kang's novel "Human Acts" during his service.

Resistance to stereotype

Contrary to the stereotype that young people avoid reading, Han's literature has found a significant following among Korea's youth. Her works, including "Fruit of My Woman," are featured in high school literature textbooks, and students often engage in discussions about her novels in class.

A recent Gallup Korea survey revealed that 25.5 percent of respondents aged 18-29 had read Han’s novels before she won the Nobel Prize, the highest percentage among all age groups.

Despite criticisms of declining literacy among younger generations, it turns out that this demographic is the most avid readers of Han's works.

Interviews with readers in their teens and 20s showed that for many, Han's novels marked a turning point in their reading habits.

Notes congratulating Han Kang on her Nobel Prize in literature are displayed next to a Han Kang book stand at Kyobo Book Centre in central Seoul. Korea Times photo by Yang Seung-jun

Attuned to rights issues

Why are young readers so drawn to Han’s literature, despite not having lived through the historical events her books often portray?

Two reasons stand out: the emotional intensity and the empathy her works evoke. Many young readers have reported feeling deeply affected by the raw emotions conveyed in her novels.

One reader in her 20s said, “'The Vegetarian' didn’t just feel like I was reading; the difficult emotions came through so strongly.” Another remarked that reading "Human Acts" felt like "being stabbed in the chest."

Though they may not have experienced the historical tragedies depicted in novels like "Human Acts "(set during the 1980 democratic uprising in Gwangju) or "We Do Not Part" (about the tragic Jeju 4.3 incident of the late 1940s and early 1950s), young readers are particularly attuned to issues of human rights and personal sacrifice.

As professor Song Ji-eon of Hongik University notes, “Compared to older generations, today’s youth may have less direct experience with historical trauma, but their sensitivity to human rights allows them to empathize deeply with the individual suffering and sacrifices shown in Han's work."

Novels by Nobel Prize winner Han Kang are displayed at the National Library of Korea's Literature Hall in Seocho District, Seoul. Newsis

Finding identity and solace

For many young readers, Han's novels offer a sense of validation and comfort. One 23-year-old reader expressed that characters like the hemophiliac patient in "The Wind Is Blowing" made her realize, “I still have humanity.”

Another reader mentioned feeling a surrogate sense of motherhood through the character in "Human Acts" who confesses, "I couldn’t hold your funeral, so my life became your funeral."

One particularly striking reaction came from an 18-year-old reader who recalled the character Dong-ho from "Human Acts," who dies feeling guilty for not rushing to a friend's aid after they were shot. The reader questioned, “Why don’t the ‘adults’ who committed these crimes feel any guilt?”

Professor Kim Heon-sik of Jungwon University explained, "Through the solidarity of suffering that Han Kang portrays, younger generations are finding a sense of self. This is a reaction to the social atmosphere that forces them to become desensitized just to survive, and it's intensified further by the looming threat to their existence posed by the AI revolution."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.