The Modern Novel

Biography

Yi Mun-Yol was born in Seoul in 1948. When the Korean War broke out, his father moved to North Korea, leaving behind his wife and three children. The family had to move continually because of the dangers of being associated with a political offender. This had a profound effect on Yi Mun-Yol, which can clearly be seen in his writing. He dropped out of Seoul University but won two writing contests and then had considerable success with his first novel, 사람의 아들 (Son of Man). He has gone on to become one of the foremost contemporary Korean novelists. He taught Korean language and literature at Sejong University and is currently professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. His family later found out that his father had spent a lot of time in various prison camps and had subsequently remarried and had five children. There was no prospect of meeting him or even corresponding with him. An imagined attempted meeting is the subject of his novel 아우와의만남 (An Appointment with My Brother; later: Meeting with My Brother).

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Yi Mun-Yol
Yi Munyŏl
Yi Mun-Yol
Yi Mun-Yol