Kim Sum (born Kim Sujin, 23 July 1974) is a South Korean

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, best known as the author of ''One Left'' (, 2016), a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

dealing with the issue of Korean

comfort women Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...

in the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

Life

Kim Sum was born in 1974 at a seaside town in

Bangeojin Bangeojin () is an area in the Dong-gu district of Ulsan, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea a ...

Ulsan Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. When she was six, her father went to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

for a manual labor job, leaving the rest of the family to move into her grandfather's house in

Geumsan County Geumsan County () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, county in South Chungcheong Province (Before 1963, Geumsan was in North Jeolla Province, Jeollabuk-do), South Korea. It borders Muju County, North Jeolla Province (Jeollabuk-do), whi ...

South Chungcheong Province South Chungcheong Province (), informally called Chungnam, is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, province of South Korea in the Hoseo region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. South Chungcheong borders the provinces of Gyeonggi to ...

, where she ended up spending her childhood. Upon entering high school, she joined a literature club, the Cheong-un Literary Society, and dabbled in writing

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

. In 1997 she published her first short story, "On Slowness" (), in the Daejeon Ilbo, which won their New Writer's Award. Kim said she had written the story because she wanted to experiment with longer pieces of writing, rather than just poetry. A year later in 1998 she published another short story, "Time in the Middle Ages" (), which won the Munhakdongne New Writer Award, and Kim decided to become a writer. After graduating from university, Kim Sum worked as a

proofreader Proofreading is a phase in the process of publishing where galley proofs are compared against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks, to identify transcription errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place co ...

for a newspaper outside of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, and then as an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

for a

publishing house Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

for many years.

Career

Kim Sum debuted as a writer when some of her short stories were selected for publications by the Daejeon Ilbo in 1997 and Munhakdongne in 1998. Known for her "elaborate descriptions and aesthetic style" and "vivid allegories", Kim Sum has been a prolific writer since her debut, publishing numerous short story collections and novels. Many of her works, particularly more recent novels such as ''One Left'' () or ''L's Sneakers'' (), critically examine modern and contemporary Korean history and related topics, such as Korean independence from Imperial Japan, the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, South Korean democratization, and more. While ''One Left'' () tells the story of Korean

who were sexually abused by Imperial Japanese soldiers, ''L's Sneakers'' () retells the story of student activist

Lee Han-yeol The June Democratic Struggle (), also known as the June Democracy Movement and the June Uprising, was a nationwide pro-democracy movement in South Korea that generated mass protests from June 10 to 29, 1987. The demonstrations forced the ru ...

, whose injuries and later death strongly influenced the

June Democratic Struggle The June Democratic Struggle (), also known as the June Democracy Movement and the June Uprising, was a nationwide pro-democracy movement in South Korea that generated mass protests from June 10 to 29, 1987. The demonstrations forced the ru ...

of 1987. Both novels focus on more recent historical events that have been critical to forming a

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

amongst

South Koreans Demographic features of the population of South Korea include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. The common language and especiall ...

. Kim Sum is the recipient of multiple literary recognitions, including the

Contemporary Literature (Hyundae Munhak) Award The company Contemporary Literature (“Hyundae Munhak” in Korean language, Korean), founded in South Korea in 1954, is one of the leading publishing companies in the literary field and has been publishing the nation's most prestigious monthly l ...

, the

Daesan Literary Awards The Daesan Literary Awards () are one of the most prestigious literary awards in South Korea. Prizes are awarded annually to selected works of poetry, fiction, drama, literary criticism, and translation. As of 2016, each prize includes a monetary ...

for fiction, the

Yi Sang Literary Award The Yi Sang Literary Award (이상문학상) is a South Korean literary award. It is one of South Korea's most prestigious literary awards, named after Yi Sang, an innovative writer in modern Korean literature. The Yi Sang Literary Award was esta ...

, and the Dongri Literature Prize. Several of her works have been translated into other languages, including ''One Left'', which was longlisted for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

in 2022.

Works in Korean

* "On Slowness" (, 1997) * "Time in the Middle Ages" (, 1998) * ''Fighting Dog'' (, 2005) * ''Bed'' (, 2007) * ''Idiots'' (, 2006) * ''Iron'' (, 2008) * ''My Beautiful Sinners'' (, 2009) * ''Water'' (, 2010) * ''Liver and Gallbladder'' (, 2011) * ''To Abandon the Yellow Dog'' (, 2011) * ''Women and Their Evolving Enemies'' (, 2013) * ''Noodles'' (, 2014) * ''Woman Sewing'' (, 2015) * ''L's Sneakers'' (, 2016) * ''One Person'' (, 2016) * ''Your God'' (, 2017) * ''Flowing Letters'' (, 2018) * ''Have You Ever Wished for a Soldier To Become an Angel?: The Testimony of Japanese Military "Comfort Woman" Gil Won-ok'' (, 2018) * ''The Sublime Is Looking into Me: The Testimony of Japanese Military "Comfort Woman" Kim Bok-dong'' (, 2018) * "Divorce" () * "The Night Nobody Comes Back" () * "Disappearing Memories" () * "Hometown Address" () * "Song" () * "That Night with Gyeongsuk" () * "Silent Night, Holy Night" () * "In Search of the Perfect Place" () * "A Day To Go to

Okcheon Okcheon County (''Okcheon-gun'') is a county in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. History Okcheon has been called by various names such as ''Gosisan-gun'', ''Kwansung'', and ''Hyeonryeong''. Timeline * King Gyeongdeok: It was named ''Gw ...

" ()

Works in translation

* ''One Left'' (

University of Washington Press The University of Washington Press is an American academic publishing house. The organization is a division of the University of Washington, based in Seattle. Although the division functions autonomously, it has worked to assist the university' ...

, 2020), translated by

Bruce Fulton Bruce Fulton is an American professor of Korean Literature and a noted translator of contemporary Korean fiction with an extensive list of publications. He has lived in the United States, Canada, and South Korea, and is married to fellow translat ...

and Ju-Chan Fulton * ''Divorce'' ( Strangers Press, 2019), translated by Emily Yae Won * ''The Night Nobody Returns Home'' (

ASIA Publishers ASIA Publishers () is a Seoul-based book publisher best known for producing multi-volume series of translated Korean literature in bilingual format, generally at novella length and usually featuring a short biography of the author, a background of ...

, 2014), translated by Jean Miseli

Awards

* 1997: Daejeon Ilbo New Writer’s Award for "On Slowness" () * 1998: Munhakdongne New Writer Award for "Time in the Middle Ages" () * 2012: 7th Heo Gyun Literary Writer Award for "To Abandon the Yellow Dog" () * 2013:

for "That Night with Gyeongsuk" () * 2013:

for "Women and Their Evolving Enemies" (). * 2015:

for "The Story of Roots" ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Sum Living people South Korean women novelists South Korean novelists Writers from Ulsan 1974 births