Han Kang (53), a Korean novelist and the author of notable works such as The Vegetarian, has been selected as this year's Nobel Literature Prize laureate. This marks the first time a Korean writer has won the Nobel Prize in Literature, a monumental achievement that has elevated Korean literature to a prestigious position in the global literary scene. This is also the first time in the 123-year history of the Nobel Literature Prize that an Asian woman has won. Han Kang's Nobel win is Korea's second Nobel Prize overall, following President Kim Dae-jung's Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.

The Swedish Academy announced on the 10th that it had chosen “Korean author Han Kang” as this year’s Nobel Literature Prize winner. The Academy praised Han's works as “powerful poetic prose that confronts historical trauma and reveals the fragility of human life,” explaining its reasons for the selection. The Academy added, “Han Kang faces historical trauma and invisible dominance head-on in her works, while exposing the vulnerability of human existence. She possesses a unique awareness of the connection between body and soul, the living and the dead, and has become an innovator of contemporary prose with her poetic and experimental writing style.”

Han Kang has been one of the leading figures in elevating Korean literature globally, with her collection of novels including The Vegetarian. In 2016, she became the first Korean to win the International Booker Prize, awarded to non-Commonwealth authors. The Booker Prize is considered one of the world's three major literary awards alongside the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Prix Goncourt. With the addition of the Nobel Prize, Han Kang has now indisputably joined the ranks of world-renowned literary figures.

Han Kang began her literary career by publishing poetry in the Winter 1993 issue of Literature and Society, and the following year she debuted as a novelist when her work The Red Anchor was selected in The Seoul Shinmun's New Year’s Literary Contest. Domestically, she has received various awards, including the Korean Novel Literary Award, the Yi Sang Literary Award, and the Dongri Literary Award.

Han is highly regarded for creating a distinctive literary world, addressing universal human issues such as death and violence through poetic and lyrical prose. Her 2014 novel Human Acts depicts the horrors of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, and her 2021 work I Do Not Say Goodbye explores the tragedy of the Jeju 4.3 Incident from the perspectives of three women, bringing the darkness and scars of modern Korean history to life through fiction.

As a Nobel laureate, Han Kang will receive 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately $1.05 million), along with a medal and diploma. The award ceremony will take place on December 10 in Stockholm, Sweden.