It is another disappointing year for Ko Un, one of the nation’s most acclaimed living poets.
He has been regarded as a potential winner for the Nobel Prize in literature by local media since 2002.
As of Thursday, Korea remains the only country in Northeast Asia without a Nobel laureate in literature. Japan’s Oe Kenzaburo won the award in 1994 and now China claims a laureate in literature with Wednesday’s win by Mo Yan.
“Oe Kenzaburo and Haruki Murakami have been vocal about international issues and conflicts,” said Kim Seong-kon, president of Literature Translation Institute of Korea.
“They have been critical of those in power, and never wrote for particular political groups or organizations.”
Local hopes were especially high in 2010, as foreign media reported that Ko and Syria’s prominent poet Adonis were generating the most buzz among Swedish Nobel watchers before the official announcement.
“The Nobel Prize for literature is given to the kind of author who has international influence,” said Kim.
“Being a famous writer in his or her country does not guarantee the honor. Korea needs more writers who are considered significant internationally, who can connect with their readers overseas by writing about shared universal experiences of humankind in Korea-related themes.”
The 79-year-old poet has been known for a life filled with ups and downs, deeply linked with Korea’s turbulent modern history. He is noted for his pro-democracy activism, suicide attempts stemming from war trauma, and, most importantly, his poetry ranging from short lyric to the vast epic of seven-volume “Paektusan (Mt. Baekdu).” He is also famous for living as a Buddhist monk from 1952 to 1962.
Throughout his life, Ko has published about 135 works including fiction, autobiography, drama, travel books and essays, which have been translated into more than 15 foreign languages. In 2006, he was awarded the 3rd Cikada prize, a Swedish Literary Prize for East Asian poets. In 2008, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Prize by the Griffin Fund for Excellence in Poetry.
“I believe about 60 works of Ko’s works have been translated into 17 different languages,” Kim from LTI said. “And four of his books have been translated into Swedish. Most of the Nobel laureates each have about five books translated into Swedish. But most of them certainly have a lot more than 60 works translated into other languages.”
By Claire Lee (
dyc@heraldcorp.com)
