Kim Sok-pom, also spelled Kim Suok-puom (born October 2, 1925) is a
Zainichi Korean
comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...
novelist who writes in
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
. Preferred name in English provided.
Biography
Born in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
to parents of
Jeju
Jeju may refer to:
* Jeju Island (Jejudo), an island near South Korea
* Jeju Province (formerly transliterated Cheju), a province of South Korea comprising Jejudo
**Jeju City, the biggest city on Jejudo
**Jeju dog, a dog native to Jejudo
** Jeju l ...
origin, Kim accompanied his family to Jeju, a Korean island, where he became acquainted with supporters of the
Korean independence movement
The Korean independence movement was a military and diplomatic campaign to achieve the independence of Korea from Japan. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea's domestic resistance peaked in the March 1st Movement of 1919, which ...
. In 1945, when he had returned to Osaka, the war ended. Directly after that, he went to
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, but came back to Japan again after that, where he would stay. He attended
Kansai University
, abbreviated as or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university with its main campus in Suita, Osaka, Japan and two sub-campuses in Sakai and Takatsuki, Osaka. Founded as Kansai Law School in 1886, It has been recognized as one of t ...
, and graduated from the Department of Literature at
Kyoto University
, mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture
, established =
, type = National university, Public (National)
, endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD)
, faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff)
, administrative_staff ...
, having specialized in literature. Soon after his graduation, the April 3 massacre broke out in his ancestral hometown of Jeju, an incident which became a motif of his later work.
In 1957, ''Karasu no shi'' and ''Kanshu Baku Shobō'' appeared in ''Bungei Shuto'' magazine. Around this time, Kim was involved in organising
Chongryon
The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, " ''
, the pro-North Korean ethnic association in Japan, but after ''Karasu no shi'' was published as a stand-alone book with three other short stories of his, he left the organisation. With the change to be published further, Kim focused on writing in Japanese, in 1970 writing ''Mandoku yūrei kitan'', which confirmed his position as a novelist. The same work would be published in serial form between 1976 and 1981 in ''Bungakukai'' literary magazine under the title ''Tsunami''; afterwards, the name was changed to ''Kazantō'.
Kim has not obtained
South Korean citizenship
South Korean nationality law details the conditions in which an individual is a national of the Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly known as South Korea. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in the country for at least five years and s ...
following the
division of Korea
The division of Korea began with the defeat of Empire of Japan, Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allies of World War II, Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached ...
after the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. In 1988, at the invitation of a civic group, Kim travelled to Seoul and Jeju Island, despite having no citizenship. When fellow Zainichi Korean novelist
Lee Hoesung
Lee Hoesung is a Zainichi Korean novelist in Japan. He writes under the pen name Ri Kaisei, the Japanese reading of his Korean name. In 1972, he became the first ethnic Korean to win the Akutagawa Prize for his story "The Woman Who Fulled Clothe ...
took South Korean citizenship in 1998, Kim criticised him, and a debate between the two developed in the media. ''Kazantō'', his book about the 1945 Jeju Massacre has been controversial in South Korea, and he was denied entry to South Korea twice: in 1980 and in 2015.
Themes
Major themes in Kim's works include imperialism, notions of home, survival and popular nationalism; he touches upon controversial topics such as
identity politics
Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...
and state
genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
. His work are seen as an
allegory
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
on what it means to be a
Zainichi Korean
comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...