Pony Chung Innovation Award Ceremony Marks Han Kang’s First Domestic Appearance
Voice Only, No Public Appearance
“I Want to Meet Readers Through Books Like Now
6 Years Left Until 60, the Golden Age for Authors
I Wish to Focus on Writing the Book I Have in Mind”
At the ceremony held on the 17th at I’Park Tower in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Han Kang, the first Korean Nobel Literature Prize winner, expressed her feelings upon receiving the Innovation Award. Despite the anticipation of her first public appearance following the Nobel Prize announcement, Han Kang did not make a public appearance, opting instead to enter the venue quietly through a separate passage.
Following her Nobel Prize win on the 10th, Han Kang declined press conferences and media interviews. The award ceremony was also conducted with limited media presence, with reporters only hearing Han Kang’s voice through speakers outside the venue.
Contrary to reports suggesting she wouldn’t mention the Nobel Prize during the ceremony, Han Kang delicately said, “If permitted, I’d like to briefly mention the Nobel Prize before my acceptance speech for the Innovation Award.” She expressed gratitude, stating, “It was a special moving moment with so many people congratulating me as if it were their own matter.”
Han Kang expressed her desire for her personal life to remain largely unchanged, emphasizing her wish to continue connecting with the world through her writing and meeting readers through her books. At 54 years old, she noted that if the prime age for writers is between 50 and 60, she has about six years left. She said she wants to dedicate herself to writing the three books she’s been contemplating during this time. She even joked about the possibility of not being able to “die properly” due to other books she wishes to write.
Han Kang left the event immediately after the ceremony, avoiding requests for comments from journalists in the underground parking lot. Her formal acceptance remarks are expected to be delivered in an essay she will read at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden on December 10th.
The Pony Chung Innovation Award was established in honor of the late Chung Se-yung, former chairman of Hyundai Development Company, and decided last month.