Han Kang Breaks 2-Year Silence: "Recognizing 'Hate' Is a Sign of Hope"

[Anchor]

Author Han Kang, who has refrained from public appearances since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature, has made an appearance at the Avignon Festival, the world's largest performing arts festival, for the first time in two years. During the event, she shared her thoughts on the culture of hatred.

Our correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports from Avignon.

[Reporter]

Author Han Kang, who had been keeping a low profile since receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024, sat before the cameras for the first time in two years.

[Han Kang/Author: Honestly, it was burdensome. So, I just stayed in seclusion, and now that the attention seems to have faded quite a bit, I feel much lighter.]

Han was invited to the 80th Avignon Festival, the world's largest performing arts festival.

She also took the stage at a reading of her novel, which featured actor Lee Hye-young and French actor Isabelle Huppert, and received a round of applause from the audience.

[Han Kang: I thought it would be interesting for those who have only read "We Do Not Part" as a book to experience it in a different way.]

Han also addressed the culture of hatred spreading in our society, such as the trivialization of the May 18 Democratization Movement, which serves as the backdrop for her novel "Human Acts."

[Han Kang: If we share a consensus that hatred is not natural but problematic, perhaps there is hope in that.]

Among the 47 works invited to this year's Avignon Festival, a total of nine Korean productions were featured, including theatrical adaptations of Han's novels.

It is the first time in 28 years that Korean works have been invited. Three works by Jaha Koo, the first Asian recipient of the Ibsen Award—often referred to as the Nobel Prize of theater—were also invited and received acclaim from the audience.

[Soha/French Audience: It was truly moving. My mother is Korean. This work expressed the things I feel about my mother in a very intimate way.]

Notably, Korean became an official language of the Avignon Festival for the first time this year.

[Tiago Rodrigues/Director of the Avignon Festival: I am hearing that many of the performing arts groups and collaborative partners participating in this festival are already receiving many proposals to invite Korean works for tours across Europe and France.]

The organizers stated that they plan to invite Korean works again next year and introduce other international works from the Avignon Festival to Korea, aiming to further expand exchanges with the Korean performing arts scene.

(Video coverage: Kim Si-nae, Video editing: Kim Jong-mi)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.