Nam Jung-hyun (1933-2020) was a South Korean writer.
1. Life
Born in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, Nam Jung-hyun made his literary debut by publishing "Gyeonggoguyeok" (경고구역 Warning Zone) in the September 1958 issue of Jayu Munhak and "Gulttuk mitui yusan" (굴뚝 밑의 유산 Legacy Under the Chimney) in its February 1959 issue. Nam's ongoing critique of the Park regime was halted on July 9 1965, when he was arrested on charges that "Bunji" (분지 Land of Excrement) violated the National Security Law, after which he was released on bail. His case was not brought to trial until July 23, 1966. He was found guilty on June 28, 1967, receiving a seven-year suspended prison sentence. "Land of Excrement" remained censored until the general lifting of press restrictions in 1988.
Nam was arrested and imprisoned again in 1974 and in 1980 for his anti-governmental stance. His major works can be found in Namjeonghyeon daepyososeolseonjip (남정현 대표소설선집 Selected stories of Nam Jung-hyun), which also includes stories featuring his character Mr. Heo Heo. Nam received the 1961 Dong-in Literary Award and the 2002 Korean National Artists Federation Award.
2. Writing
Nam Jung-hyun is a writer well known in Korean literature for his use of satirical allegory. Man-su, the protagonist of "Land of Excrement," is a tenth-generation descendant of Hong Gil-dong, the fictional "righteous bandit" created by Heo Gyun circa the late 16th or early 17th century. Man-su's ancestry is a sign that expresses the author's opposition to mainstream society. His name, Man-su, which means long life, symbolizes the eternal nature of Korean national resistance and vitality. Man-su is hiding on Mt. Hyangmi and he is about to be pulverized by the artillery and bombs of the United States Army. The name Hyangmi means "toward America," standing in as an allegory for Korean society that blindly worships America and everything American. These allegories fundamentally satirize the colonial mentality of Korean society that continues even after Korea's liberation from Japan.
“Land of Excrement,” likens post-war South Korea as a polluted land overrun by cunning, flattery, and abuses of power on the one hand, and by American imperialism on the other. An acerbic indictment of the South Korean situation in the 1960s, the story was republished in the bulletin of the Worker's Party of Korea without the author's permission. This fact was seized upon by South Korean authorities and used to charge Nam with violating the National Security Law. He was released in 1967 but was jailed a second time in 1974 on charges of violating the notorious Presidential Emergency Ordinance No.1. It is precisely such abuses of power and the resulting injustice, of which he has been a victim, that Nam denounces in his fiction.
Nam's last collection of short stories, Pyeonji han tong-mi jegukjuui jeonsangseo (편지 한 통-미 제국주의 전상서 A Letter to American Imperialism), continues his lifelong theme of denouncing American imperialism. In the titular story, the National Security Law writes a letter to their maker, the almighty American Imperialism, expressing their doubts and fears on North Korean and US peace negotiations while North Korea continues to pursue a nuclear deterrent strategy.
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