Han Soosan (born 1946) is a South Korean novelist.
1. Life
Life Han Soosan was born in Inje, Gangwon Province. Han graduated from Kyung Hee University with a degree in English literature and made his debut as a poet in 1967, winning the Gangwon Ilbo New Writer`s Contest. He made his debut as a novelist in 1972 winning the Dong-a Ilbo New Writer`s Contest with his short story `Saworui kkeut` (사월의 끝 The End of April) and began publishing fiction in the early 1970s, winning both popular and critical acclaim for his beautifully wrought prose and fine sensibility. At the height of his career in 1981, Han was arrested on suspicion of harboring anti-government sentiments. This dubious charge was based on a few phrases found in his novel Yongmangui geori (욕망의 거리 The Street of Desire), which the censorship interpreted as a mockery of then-president Chun Doo-hwan. For several days Han was brutally tortured and humiliated along with friends and colleagues at the JoongAng Ilbo where the novel was being serialized. Traumatized by the incident, Han moved to Japan in 1988 and did not return to Korea until 1992. From 1997 to 2012 he taught Korean literature at Sejong University. Han is the recipient of the Today`s Writer Award, the Nogwon Literary Award, and the Hyundae Literary Award.
2. Writing
Han Soosan`s life`s work, Gunhamdo (군함도 Battleship Island), published in 2016, is based on 27 years of extensive research. The novel deals with the pain and suffering of Koreans who were conscripted as forced labor on Hashima Island, Japan, and sacrificed in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Han first attempted to write about this theme in 1993, serializing Haeneun tteugo haeneun jigo (해는 뜨고 해는 지고 Sunrise, Sunset) in the JoongAng Ilbo, but stopped after three years. After extensive revision, the work was eventually published as the five-volume Kkamagwi (까마귀 Raven) in 2003, but Han remained dissatisfied, ultimately revising it as Gunhamdo. The novel opens with Ji-sang volunteering to join Japan`s forced labor unit on behalf of his elder brother. There, he runs into Woo-seok, a friend from high school, and they work and live in the Hashima branch of the Takashima coal mine owned by Mitsubishi. Working in a harsh environment where people are dying of relentless labor, Ji-sang hears that his wife, Seo-hyeong, has given birth to a son, and plots an escape with his roommate Myeong-guk. At once a profoundly moving human drama as well as a chillingly accurate portrayal of historical tragedy, Gunhamdo condemns the madness of Japanese imperial ambition and the inhuman logic of war responsible for the annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Floating Grass, Han`s only novel translated in English, was originally published in Segyeui munhak in 1976. The members of Ilwol circus lead a rootless life, traveling south in fall and north in spring like migratory birds. Yun-jae is an old acrobat who has spent his entire life with the troupe and is like a father to the members. When Jun-pyo, the leader of the troupe, collapses, his younger brother, Gwang-pyo, becomes the new leader. Tired of Gwang-pyo`s corruption and violence, the members of the troupe leave one by one, and are replaced by new members. Eventually Ilwol is split into two warring factions. Finely written and subtly nuanced, Floating Grass presents a solemn picture of human life that matures, flourishes and finally expires according to the laws of nature.
