South Koreans rejoice in surprise and national pride

Joy and amazement were the emotions South Koreans expressed after learning that the writer Han Kang won the Nobel Prize for Literature, an unexpected moment that fueled national pride in the country’s growing cultural influence, increasingly notable in the West.

The South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported that Kang’s works occupied positions one to nine in the ranking of best-selling titles, while Japanese bookstores showed their shelves empty due to the news.

When the announcement spread in South Korea, some online stores temporarily froze due to the sudden increase in visits, while social media users in that country flooded the platforms with jubilant messages expressing admiration and pride.

Some considered it significant that Han was the first Asian to win the award, presenting it as a statement of intent toward the country’s traditionally male-dominated literary scene. They are always the ones who do the big thingswrote one Facebook user.

Kang’s win adds to the growing global influence of South Korean culture, which in recent years has included the hits of the Oscar-winning film parasites, from director Bong Joon-ho; the brutal survival drama The squid game and K-Pop groups like BTS, who also congratulated her.

In South Korea’s parliament, several government hearings were suspended as lawmakers cheered and applauded the poet’s award.

During his visit to Laos to attend a meeting of Asian leaders, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement congratulating the Nobel Prize winner on her award, which he described as great achievement in the history of Korean literature y special moment for the nation. He turned the painful wounds of our modern history into great literaturewrote Yoon Suk Yeol. I send my respects to you for raising the value of Korean literature.

(With information from The Independent)