Han Kang explains background of October New York Times op-ed contribution

Han Kang

The author doesn’t regard the piece as ideologically or politically tinged

A controversial New York Times contribution last October by novelist Han Kang has been reprinted in the winter edition of the quarterly literary magazine “Munhak Dongne,” along with a brief position statement from the author on her reasons for writing the piece and the subsequent political uproar in South Korea.

Han’s piece criticized US President Donald Trump for discussing war scenarios on the Korean Peninsula, declaring that any scenario other than peace was unthinkable for South Koreans. The piece was published in translation in the Oct. 7 edition of the New York Times under the title “While the US Talks of War, South Korea Shudders.”

According to Han, the original title was “Who Is Talking about ‘Victory’ Scenarios?,” but the author changed it at the newspaper’s request. Han also explained that she was asked for a submission in May and respectfully declined, only to change her mind later “as the subsequent war of words escalated.”

“I also felt concerned about the climate overseas, which seemed to regard South Korea as having only an anonymous public that is numb and insensitive to any crisis,” Han said. “So my thought was purely to communicate the real sense that there are flesh-and-blood people living here.”

Han Kang’s op-ed piece, “While the US talks of war, South Korea shudders,” was printed in the New York Times on Oct. 7.

She went on to say the piece “was basically meant for readers of the New York Times, as a way of calmly suggesting that people who believe in peace unite against the possibility of war.”

“In the process, I strived to portray South Koreans not as people feebly and helplessly awaiting rescue, but as dignified individuals actively upholding peace,” she said.

Han also offered an explanation on the response to the piece’s publication in the New York Times, including a ruling party lawmaker taking issue with its characterization of the Korean War as a “proxy war enacted on the Korean Peninsula,” and even Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha mentioning “problems of expression and historical understanding.”

“I never thought of the piece as being ideologically or politically tinged,” Han wrote.

“Underlying the iniquity of the dictatorial regime in North Korea are common-sense assumptions that everyone naturally shares, and a complex, macro-level understanding of the nature of the Korean War does not conflict with an exceedingly sensible critical perspective on North Korea as the specific party initiating the war,” she stressed.

By Choi Jae-bong, senior staff writer

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