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| Writer Yun I-hyeong / Korea Times file |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Korean writers, including Yun I-hyeong and Choi Eun-young, are demanding an apology from Munhaksasang, the organizer of the prestigious Yi Sang Literary Award, for imposing unfair terms in its publication contracts.
Yun, the recipient of last year's award for her novel "Their First and Second Cat," abruptly announced the end of her writing career, Friday, alleging that it was an inevitable choice to protest against deceptive copyright practices in the literary world.
"I believe the only way to protest would be to end my writing career. I've grown so tired of the unfair practices in the literary world that I no longer want to continue writing," she said in a statement.
"I'd like to return my Yi Sang Literary Award because I belatedly realized the injustice behind it."
Yun's decision mirrors that of three winners of the 44th Yi Sang Literary Award ― Kim Keum-hee, Choi Eun-young and Lee Ki-ho ― who boycotted the awards due to unfair contract terms, which stipulate that authors transfer their winning works' copyrights to the organizer for three years.
"The contract said that I cannot use my novel as a title piece nor include it in a book. Is this how the publishing company shows respect to the writers and their efforts?" Kim tweeted Jan. 4.
Shortly after the issue went viral, Munhaksasang said it added the problematic clause last year to prevent other publishing companies from selling the same content while advertising it as the Yi Sang Literary Award winner's work.
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| Writer Choi Eun-young / Korea Times file |
A string of writers expressed solidarity with Yun over the weekend, voicing their disapproval of Munhaksasang.
Choi, who refused to accept the runner-up award to protect the rights of writers, expressed her disappointment on social media.
"I felt sad and angry after reading Yun's statement," Choi wrote on her blog. "I demand an apology from Munhaksasang that refuses to admit its wrongdoing by putting the blame on an employee's mistake."
Writer Choi Eun-mi, who is popular for incorporating Buddhist cosmology into her works of fiction, tweeted, "I stand with Yun. I'm frustrated with the literary world in which a writer has to face a sense of shame and leave the scene."
"Until Munhaksasang apologizes and announces measures to prevent theft of copyright of prize-winning writers, I will not respond to all duties and requests from the publishing company," another writer Jang Ryu-jin tweeted.
Munhaksasang said it plans to make an official statement later this week in a bid to settle the controversy.
The award was established in 1977 to commemorate prominent modern writer Yi Sang's achievements.
A yearly collection archiving short- and medium-length novels of the winners of the award has been published each year in January.
