The actor Yu Taeyo congratulated novelist Han Kang on winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in a unique way by using some scenes from the movie ‘Fast Lives’. On October 11th, Yu Taeyo posted a congratulatory message on his Instagram about Han Kang winning the Nobel Prize in Literature via the Swedish Academy. He introduced Han Kang as standing up against historical trauma and unseen domination in her works, exposing the fragility of human life.
Yu Taeyo also shared some scenes from ‘Fast Lives’ where the character Nora, who spent her childhood in Korea, boldly says that Koreans cannot win the Nobel Prize in Literature before leaving for Canada. Nora then pursues a career as a writer and dreams of winning the Tony Award.
In ‘Fast Lives’, Yu Taeyo starred alongside Greta Lee and humorously responded to the line “Because Koreans cannot win the Nobel Prize in Literature, right?” with “That’s why I stayed in Korea.” The film was first released in the United States in June last year and premiered domestically in March this year.
The public has shown delight in the reversal of the dialogue in the movie just 7 months after its release in South Korea. The Swedish Academy announced on October 10th that they had selected Han Kang as this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature laureate.
The Academy praised Han Kang for her unique insights into the connection between the body and soul, the living and the dead, and her innovative and poetic writing style that revolutionizes modern prose. Han Kang made history as the first Korean writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and she is also the first Asian woman to achieve this honor since it began.
Han Kang’s Nobel Prize win is the second for a Korean, following former President Kim Dae-jung’s Peace Prize in 2000, and marks a milestone in Korean literary history after 24 years.
[ⓒSports Kyunghyang, Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited]