
Kim Songhan
김성한
Kim Seong-han was born in Pungsan, South Hamgyong Province in 1919. He studied law at Tokyo Imperial University before returning to Korea after the liberation. In the early 1960s, he studied history at the University of Manchester, UK. Kim made his literary debut in 1950 when his short story “Mumyeongno” (무명로 Lightless Road) won the Seoul Shinmun New Writer’s Contest. Kim went on to become one of Korea's representative writers of the 1950s, winning the first Dongin Literary Award for his novel Babido (바비도 Badby) in 1956, and the Asia Freedom Literary Award for his short story "Obungan" (오분간 In Five Minutes) in 1968. Until 1981, Kim continued to write while pursuing a career in journalism, as a writer then editor-in-chief of the Dong-A Ilbo. In his later years he devoted himself to historical fiction, publishing such epics as Wanggeon (왕건 Taejo of Goryeo), Imjinwaeran (임진왜란 The Imjin War), and Jinsihwangje (진시황제 Qin Shi Huang).