Kim Won il (born 1942) is a Korean novelist.
1. Life
Kim was born in Gimhae, South Gyeongsangnam-do. He studied creative writing at Sorabol College of Arts and Korean literature at Yeungnam University. He earned his master's degree in Korean Literature from Dankook University. Kim made his literary debut in 1966 when his short story "1961 nyeon algeria" (1961년 알제리아 Algeria, 1961) won the Daegu Maeil Shinmun New Writer's Contest. He went on to publish "Eodumui hon" (어둠의 혼 Soul of Darkness), Noeul (노을 Evening Glow), "Yeon" (연 The Kite), and "Mimang" (미망 Unforgettable), works which embody his childhood memories.
From the 1980s onwards, Kim focused on full-length novels, publishing some of his strongest work in succession: Burui jejeon (불의 제전 The Rite of Fire), Baramgwa gang (바람과 강 Wind and River), and Madang gipeun jip (마당 깊은 집 The House with a Sunken Courtyard). Burui jejeon was first published serially for no less than sixteen years in various media, before it was finally completed and published in seven volumes in 1997. Kim is the recipient of numerous awards including the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, the Yi Sang Literary Award, and the Hwang Sun-won Literary Award. He is chair professor of creative writing at Sunchon National University.
2. Writing
Starting from writing about his childhood during the Korean War, which was deeply influenced by his father's defection to North Korea, Kim has pursued a broad perspective on the division of the Korean peninsula and a deeper understanding towards the people who live through it. His literary journey has been a process of recovering from this early trauma and exploring how to overcome the ideological conflict which was its root cause.
Given it was in 1988 that Kim could finally reveal the truth about the defection, disillusionment without a reason in his early works is actually disillusionment with a reason that cannot be revealed. In this light, the story "Soul of Darkness" is significant, as it shows the roots of disillusionment and despair that repeatedly appear in his early works such as "Mimang," "Gaeul byeot" (가을볕 The Sunlight of Autumn), and "Sumeoitneun ttang" (숨어 있는 땅 The Hidden Land). Around the time of his mother's death in 1980, his works began to show signs of moving towards reconciliation and acceptance.
His strongest works are the series of full-length novels published in the 1980s and after. He succeeds in placing his own personal experiences in the great trend of modern Korean history in his novels, such as Burui jejeon, Gyeoul Goljjagi (겨울 골짜기 Winter Valley), and The House with a Sunken Courtyard. The elaborate characterization of these novels and the author's viewpoint that the Korean War was actually a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia are stably supported by the world described in the stories. His father's life and decision, which remains a mystery in "Soul of Darkness," is well explained through objective insights on international relations.
Kim's work has continued to evolve in the 2000s. In Seulpeun siganui gieok (슬픈 시간의 기억 Memories of Sadness), Omanibyeol (오마니별 Mother Star), and other novels, he breaks from his works of the 1980s, which feature the characters' pursuit of self-realization on a superhuman level, so as to seek a way to liberate the self by describing contradictory, flawed human beings.
