Nobel Prize winner Han Kang expresses shock from news of martial law in 2024

[Anchor]

Author Han Kang, who has been selected as the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, held a press conference in Sweden a short while ago and expressed that she was greatly shocked by the the situation of martial law occurring in the year 2024.

Han Kang conveyed her earnest hope that we should not return to the past when freedom of expression was suppressed through force or coercion.

Reporter Park Seok-ho has the details.

[Report]

The annual meeting of Nobel Prize winners held before the award ceremony kicked off this year with Han Kang, the recipient of the Literature Prize.

At this event, Han Kang stated that she was greatly shocked by a martial law situation unfolding in 2024

She also shared that she felt sincerity and courage from the citizens who stood in front of soldiers with bare hands.

[Han Kang/Nobel Prize in Literature Laureate: "I saw people trying to stop armed soldiers with bare hands, attempting to hold back soldiers...."]

She explained that she felt the soldiers deployed at the scene were trying to avoid clash.

[Han Kang/Nobel Prize in Literature Laureate: "(The soldiers) seemed to be moving as passively as possible."]

Han Kang also emphasized that Korean society should not return to the past.

[Han Kang/Nobel Prize in Literature Laureate: "I hope we do not return to a time when voices are silenced through force or coercion...."]

Han Kang also donated a teacup she used while writing her works to the Nobel Museum, which exhibits the possessions of Nobel Prize winners.

The Nobel Prize ceremony is scheduled to take place at midnight on December 10th, Korean time.

KBS News, Park Seok-ho.