A young man aspiring to be a star emitting its own light

Aboard a ship bound for the fishing grounds in South Pacific’s Samoa

The novel Father’s Sea, by Kim Busang—an author pioneering a new path for Korean nautical fiction—looks back at the early days of Korea’s deep-sea fishing industry, tracing the origins of the maritime novels, while also envisioning a more enterprising future for the genre.

Ilsu, a 22-year-old man, yearns to escape the shadow of his aloof and sometimes even violent father. Yet, as if he has inherited the very essence of his father, a sailor himself, Ilsu dreams of a life at sea. Freshly graduated from a fisheries university, Ilsu secures a position as a trainee mate on the deep-sea fishing vessel Jinam 2, and embarks on a voyage bound for Samoa in the South Pacific.

During the era the novel is set, a tuna fishing boat was akin to a golden egg laying goose for sailors. Among the twenty-two men aboard the Jinam 2, the majority have taken to the sea in a desperate bid to escape the clutches of poverty, and Ilsu’s story reality is not so different. However, when the captain asks Ilsu why he has boarded the ship, he says he wants to gaze upon the boundless open sea. Ilsu offers this explanation not only because he considers financial motivations to be somewhat superficial but also because the sea represents an uncharted realm that he visits every night in his dreams, a place he yearns for as intensely as a newly hatched turtle instinctively seeks the ocean.

As Ilsu’s journey unfolds, he embarks on a quest to unravel the origins of that profound yearning. He aspires to become a guiding star in the night sky, illuminating the way for his fellow sailors, much like the stars that once guided him.

The first maritime accident recorded in Korean deep-sea fishing history, the sinking of Jinam 2

The novel draws inspiration from a real-life tragedy involving the Jinam 2, a shipwreck that occurred in the South Pacific on December 30, 1963. The incident unfolded during a tuna fishing mission when the ship unexpectedly encountered fierce waves in Samoa’s waters. With no time to react, the ship began to tilt and ultimately sank, leaving the crewmen stranded in the water without any survival equipment. Tragically, this accident claimed the lives of twenty-one out of the twenty-three crew members, marking a somber moment as the first recorded shipwreck in Korean deep-sea fishing history. Moon Inri, one of the two survivors, serves as the inspiration for the central character, Ilsu.

Through Ilsu’s voyage aboard the Jinam 2, the author unveils the early days of Korea’s deep-sea fishing industry. This narrative offers a fresh perspective on the challenges faced by pioneering sailors who labored tirelessly to earn foreign currency, despite the demanding nature of their work, and also illuminates an often-overlooked historical event and the individuals who lived through it.

Memories that draw Ilsu to shore at life’s crucial turning point

As the Jinam 2 succumbs to the onslaught of triangular waves, sinking into the ocean, the crew decides to appoint members to swim to an island beckoning in the distant horizon. The first to volunteer to swim through the shark-swarming sea with their bare body is Ilsu, followed by the first oiler, the second officer, and the second engineer.

The four crewmen set forth toward the distant island, their determination propelling them forward. Yet as Ilsu swims on, the numbing cold and the weight of his perilous situation begin to cloud his consciousness. To stay conscious, he summons precious memories—stories shared by the captain during their voyage, the faces of the people he met in Samoa, and his family.

Eleven grueling hours later, Ilsu finally reaches the coral island. It isn’t just physical endurance and mental fortitude that propels him to shore. It is the people and the cherished memories he holds close to his heart that fuel his determination. Amidst these memories, what holds him in an unyielding grip is the complex mix of love and resentment he has toward his father. Whether it is a mere coincidence or a profound necessity, it is the hatred he has harbored toward his father that paradoxically serves as the beacon guiding Ilsu back to safety.

“Life’s events are like a wheel combining coincidence and necessity”

Upon returning from Samoa, Ilsu finally forgives his father. His father had struggled to adapt to the rapidly modernizing world after liberation, remaining a man inept and rough around the edges. It was on the sea that he truly shone, and it was only after Ilsu’s return from the sea that he could comprehend his father’s dreams, swept away by Typhoon Sarah, and the overwhelming sorrow that had engulfed him.

At a crossroads, torn between returning to the sea and remaining on land, Ilsu finally resolves to go back to Samoa. He does so not only to fulfill the sunken dreams of the sailors who tragically lost their lives but also to become a guiding star in his own right. With the timely appointment as the second mate of the Jinjam 5, Ilsu hastens to put his affairs in order before departure. Foremost on his mind before leaving is to ensure his mother reunites with her ex-husband’s children. After managing to gather his stepbrothers for a heartfelt dinner, he discovers the pimple-faced older girl who occasionally visited him and took him to ride the tram, was, in fact, his step-sister. Just like Alisa in Samoa, whom he regarded as a second mother, he finds out his step-sister has also married an American and is residing abroad.

That very night, as Ilsu sits alone, sipping on his drink, tears well up. He can’t discern whether they are tears of sorrow or joy. In the solitude of that moment, his thoughts turn to the cherished memories of Captain Kang, who once said, “Life’s events are like a wheel combining coincidence and necessity.”

The wheel of life continues to present Ilsu with formidable challenges, but undeterred by its adversity, he once again sets sail to his father’s sea.

Born in Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do, in 1953, Kim Bu-sang is a writer with a passion for the sea. He embarked on his writing journey in 2007 when his mid-length maritime novel, In Search of Pollack, claimed top honors in the Busan Ilbo Literary Contest. In September 2007, he released a collection of marine tales titled Letters from India, followed by another collection in June 2018, titled The End of the Sea. His work, which earned the prestigious distinction of being selected as a book of recommendation (munhak nanum book) by the Arts Council Korea in 2019.

Having spent more than two decades working in the deep-sea fishing industry, Kim Bu-sang transitioned to self-employment, primarily in trading, a journey that has spanned over 20 years. He is currently an active member of both the Busan Novelists’ Association and the Korea Maritime Writers Association.