Han River "Citizens came out to the streets on the day of martial law to prevent repetition in 1980."

Han Kang, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature, interpreted that citizens took to the streets on the night of December 3 last year when President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law because they knew that memories of 1979 and 1980 should not be repeated.

In an interview with the New York Times, a U.S. daily reported on the 21st local time, author Han Kang recalled the day of martial law's declaration and said, "That way, the past and the present are connected."

He also explained that while facing and writing Korea's painful moments, he felt the experiences of victims who suffered atrocities and that he was connected to those who did not want to forget them.

At the same time, he added, "It's pain and blood," but "It's a flow of life that connects the parts that die and the parts that live."

Han Kang said he is trying to return to his quiet writing life, stressing, "It is a good environment for the artist to walk around freely, observe how people live, and write freely with a certain degree of anonymity."

In addition, a writer's son in his 20s said that he felt pressured by the attention being focused and asked him not to mention himself in the interview.

The interview was held ahead of the publication of the U.S. version of Han Kang's novel "I Don't Say Goodbye."