Bok Geo-il, as a novelist and social critic, holds a distinct and unique position in Korean society. He has mostly published science fiction, an unpopular literary genre among Korean readers, and has been well known for his outspoken comments on a variety of controversial social issues.

     There are several elements that clearly distinguish him from other Korean writers. And these elements are intimately connected.

     First, Bok debuted as a writer after going through a fairly unusual process and then instantly established himself within the literary community in Korea. Bok debuted in his early 40s, a relatively older age for a new writer to enter the scene. He worked as a salaryman for many years before starting his career as a novelist. His first novel In Search of an Epitaph was published in 1987. His debut work came out in book form from Moonji Publishing Co., Ltd., a leading publisher of literature in Korea. In most cases, new writers start their professional writing careers by publishing a short story in a newspaper or literary magazine. However, the writer as newcomer received exceptional treatment from Moonji; in turn, the publisher’s bold attempt was a huge success. What made this exceptional treatment and process possible is that Bok Geo-il had long built extensive knowledge in the social and natural sciences as well as literature, and trained himself to be a writer.

     Second, although his first work In Search of an Epitaph is an SF novel that takes the form of an alternate history, his book was highly received by the mainstream literary establishment. In Search of an Epitaph is set in an imaginary history. The story of this novel develops under a hypothesis that Japan was not defeated in the Second World War and accordingly Korea is still under Japanese colonial rule until the late 1980s. As the author mentions in the novel’s preface, such an alteration of a historical event is a literary device frequently used in science fiction. However, at that time, Korean society had little awareness and understanding of the SF genre, and so In Search of an Epitaph was widely regarded only as lowbrow genre fiction. As a result, the general public paid more attention to the writer and his work rather than to the SF genre itself, which has remained relatively underdeveloped in Korea.

     Third, one of the characteristics that can define the writer is his unique ideological position. Without reserve Bok has expressed opinions that have been strikingly different from most Korean intellectuals and writers. It is his outspokenness that has often landed him at the center of controversies involving non-literary issues. He has strongly advocated liberalism and the capitalist market economy and presented audacious outlooks and opinions on social change brought by the advancement of technology. Many readers who have progressive thoughts have wrongly taken him for a stubborn conservative, rather than a liberal. Not only that, they have had ill feelings towards the writer’s ideas that are a clear departure from nationalistic views. The most cited example of this is his insistence on the designation of English as Korea’s common language.

     Being an intellectual on the periphery, as expressed by the author himself, Bok has been one of the few writers who continue to seek a “conceptual breakthrough” in Korean society. The outspoken writer has raised issues about various customs that have been widely accepted as social norms and proposed remedial measures, attempting a radical reform of society. In addition, as an SF writer, Bok has carried on with experiments in the SF genre that have yet to be explored, rather than just cater to the demotic tastes of readers.

     Besides In Search of an Epitaph, among his major works is a roman fleuve titled A Traveler in History (1991). The saga begins where the protagonist has time traveled to the past, going back to medieval Korea, or the Joseon era. The main character, who has knowledge and know-how from the 21st century, strives to build a new society by replacing the medieval feudal system. It is needless to say that the writer’s own ideas are actively reflected in the very thought of creating a new society. Furthermore, the serial story Under the Blue Moon (1992) released by a commercial computer communication service, a first of its kind in Korea, unfolds as a drama involving crew members who fall in love at a North- South Korean moonbase.

     Among other literary works of importance is a trilogy of autobiographical novels. Plain Tales from High Hills (1988) is the first part of the trilogy and deals with the author in his 20s. The autobiographical novel recounts the writer’s personal experience as a military officer stationed at the DMZ on the border of North and South Korea during the 1960s; during that period, he fought a battle against North Korean soldiers, witnessing fellow soldiers wounded or killed. This first part of the trilogy is a candid account of the agony and thoughts of a young intellectual who faces a divided nation.

     And then Invisible Hand (2006), the second part of the trilogy, begins with a story related to 2009 Lost Memories, a Korean movie adapted from his debut novel In Search of an Epitaph. The writer lost a copyright lawsuit against the film studio that produced the movie in question. In Invisible Hand, the writer narrates what he saw and felt during the lawsuit in a composed tone, while making an assessment and prediction on the multifarious aspects of human beings and Korean society from a broad and contemplative perspective.

     Recently, the third part of the autobiographical trilogy, A Day in the Life of a Man Who Worries About Trivial Things as a Profession (2014), has been released. In this novel, the writer relates the tangled feelings of a novelist who is fully occupied with writing a book, while rejecting treatment even after being given a warning for a serious health problem. The author, now in the twilight years of his life, looks back on a wealth of past memories and tries to find his true identity as a novelist, particularly as an SF writer, rather than as a social critic.

     Bok Geo-il is an unlucky writer to say the least. He has published great SF novels, but he has yet to receive proper appraisal from his contemporaries. Although he has espoused incisive analyses of social issues based on his scientific, rational thoughts, many readers are still unwilling to take him seriously. However, I am convinced that he deserves more attention than he has gotten so far from Korean readers. I am sure that particularly those readers of the younger generation will be fascinated by his works over time. 

by Park Sang-joon

Director, Seoul SF Archive