The power of K-writers: remarkable achievement with Tolstoy Literary Prize win

[Anchor]

Following the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to author Han Kang, another piece of good news has been reported.

Korean-American author Kim Juhea's novel "Beasts of a Little Land" has won the prestigious Tolstoy Literary Prize in Russia.

Reporter Kim Gwi-soo has the details.

[Report]

Korean-American author Kim Juhea has been selected as this year's winner in the overseas literature category of the Russian Tolstoy Literary Prize.

["The winner is Kim Juhea for 'Beasts of a Little Land'!"]

In her acceptance speech, Kim congratulated author Han Kang and mentioned the achievements of Korean literature.

[Kim Juhea/Author: "Today seems to be an incredible day for Korean literature and I am also honored to be receiving this great prize which happens to mean more to me than any other."]

The award-winning work "Beasts of a Little Land" is a novel that unravels the lives of ordinary people who struggled during the Japanese colonial period on the Korean Peninsula.

In a video interview with KBS, Kim introduced her award-winning work as follows.

[Kim Juhea/Novelist: "It is an epic novel that depicts the struggles for love, courage, and freedom over half a century, spanning two generations from 1917 to around 1966."]

The author, who wanted to talk about what changes over time and what remains unchanged through intertwined characters, states that what remains unchanged is love.

[Kim Juhea/Novelist: "Something more noble and eternal certainly exists beyond human frailty and selfishness."]

Having moved to the United States at the age of nine, Kim grew up hearing stories about her independence activist grandfather and focused on the tiger that roamed between Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula as a symbol of independence in her novel.

The author, who has developed an interest in tiger conservation, announced that she will donate the entire prize money to be used for the protection of tigers and leopards.

KBS News, Kim Gwi-soo.