Oh Yeong-su (1909 – 1979) was a South Korean writer.
1. Life
Oh Yeong-su was born in Eonyang, South Gyongsang Province. He went to Japan to attend an intensive program at Niniwa Middle School from which he graduated in 1935. He then attended Nihon University to study engineering, but caught beri-beri and was forced to withdraw and return to Korea. Around this time he published children's poems in the Chosun Ilbo and the Dong-a Ilbo. He returned to Japan in 1937, but quickly left again to avoid conscription into the Japanese imperial army. He returned and finally graduated from the Tokyo National Arts Academy.
Upon his return to Korea, he quickly traveled to Manchuria, a common pathway for Koreans seeking to escape Japanese colonial rule. Sometime thereafter he returned to Korea and married in 1942. Oh made his official literary debut in 1949, publishing "Namiwa yeotjangsu" (남이와 엿장수 Nami and the Taffyman) in Sincheonji, and winning the Seoul Shinmun New Writer's Award with the short story "Meoru" (머루 Wild Grapes).
In 1954 Oh moved to Seoul to help prepare the first edition of Hyundae Munhak. He quickly became the editor of the journal, where he worked until poor health forced him to stop in 1966. He eventually moved back to Ulsan, where he died at his home in 1979.
2. Writing
Oh Yeong-su is one of the second generation of twentieth-century Korean writers—those who by and large received their higher education in Japan and became active forces in the Korean literary world after Liberation. Like Hwang Sun-Won and Kim Dong-ni—two other representatives of that generation—Oh is well known for his portraits of country people.
Oh's first publications occurred on his first return trip to Korea (1935-7) during which time his children’s poetry was published in the Chosun Ilbo and the Dong-a Ilbo. In 1949 he published his first fictional works, "Nami and the Taffyman" and "Meoru." These were followed by "Atchiya" (아찌야 Uncle), published in Sabyong Mungo, and "Hwasandaegi" (화산댁이 The Woman from Hwasan) published in Munye, in 1952.
From 1954 to 1966, as editor of Hyundae Munhak, Oh Yeong-su contributed almost 30 stories, including "Sangchun" (상춘 Spring’s Awakening), "Hujo" (후조 Migratory Birds), and "Seomeseo on singmo" (섬에서 온 식모 Girl from an Island). Oh Yeong-su also wrote for other periodicals such as Sintaeyang, which published his work "Eotteon jugeum" (어떤 죽음 A Death at the Mill).
In 1955 Oh Yeong-su received the Prize of the Korean Literature Association, and the Asian Liberty Literature Prize in 1959. In 1968 he issued an omnibus of his work, the five volumes of which contained 90 stories. Three years before his death, Oh published his sixth collection, Hwanghon (황혼 Dusk). In 1978 he released his last anthology of stories and received an award from the Academy of Arts as well as a governmental Cultural Medal of Merit.
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