Pak Hwasŏng or Pak Kyŏngsun (1904–1988) was a Korean novelist, short story writer and essayist. A witness to both
Korea under Japanese rule
Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offic ...
and the
Korean War, Pak's stories foregrounded social concerns and the particular situation of women caught in circumstances out of their control.
[Carolyn So, 'Pak Hwasŏng', in Jane Eldridge Miller, ed., Who's Who in Contemporary Women's Writing'', pp.248-9]
Life
Pak Hwasŏng's first published story, 'Ch'usŏk chŏnya' (Autumn Harvest Day Eve) - the story of a girl working in a textiles factory - appeared in the literary magazine ''Chosŏn mundan'' in 1925. In 1926 she enrolled in the English department of
Nihon Women's College in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, joining the Tokyo branch of
Kŭnuhoe.
Unable to complete her studies, Pak returned to Korea, working as an educator in schools and for a variety of literary organizations.
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Works
* 'Ch'usŏk chŏnya' (Autumn Harvest Day Eve), 1925, first published in the literary magazine ''Chosŏn mundan''
* ''Hongsu chŏnhu'' (Before and After the Flood), 1932
* ''Paekhwa'' (White Flower), 1932. Serialised in ''Tonga ilbo''.
* 'Kohyang ŏmnŭn saramdŭl' (People without Homeland), 1936
* ''Hyuhwasan'' (Inactive Volcano), 1977
* ''Kohyang ŏmnŭn saramdŭl'' (People Without A Homeland'), 1994
References
1904 births
1988 deaths
Korean novelists
South Korean women short story writers
South Korean short story writers
Korean women writers
20th-century novelists
20th-century women writers
20th-century short story writers
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