Han Kang, interview with the New York Times..."The past and the present are connected".

Han Kang, who won 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 past memories of 1979 and 1980 should not be repeated.

In a video call interview with the U.S. daily New York Times reported on the 21st local time, Han Kang recalled that he watched the declaration and withdrawal of martial law with tension at the time and said, "That way, the past and the present are connected."

In addition, as I faced and wrote about Korea's painful moments, I felt deep sympathy for the experiences of victims who suffered atrocities around the world and those who did not want to forget them.

The New York Times said, "Han Kang's work seems to have become more relevant after President Yoon's emergency martial law incident," under the title "Nobel Prize Winner Digs Up Korea's Nightmare."

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

The 2021 film "Do Not Say Goodbye" is one of the representative works that unravels the tragedy of Jeju's April 3 tragedy through the eyes of three women, and the title of the English version was published as "We Do Not Part."

An official from a bookstore in Manhattan's Chinatown told the New York Times that interest and sales of Han Kang's works are soaring.

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.