Han Sorya

Han Sorya
Portrait of Han Sorya
Vice Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly Standing Committee
In office
2 October 1958 – 22 October 1963
ChairmanChoe Yong-gon
Minister of Education and Culture
In office
11 May 1956 – 29 September 1958
PremierKim Il Sung
Preceded byKim Chang-man
Succeeded byYi Il-gyong
Personal details
Born
Han Pyŏngdo

(1900-08-03)3 August 1900
Hamhung, Korean Empire
Died6 April 1976(1976-04-06) (aged 75)
Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Resting placePatriotic Martyrs' Cemetery
CitizenshipNorth Korean
NationalityKorean
Alma materNippon University
Occupationnovelist, short story writer, literary administrator, politician
AwardsOrder of the National Flag (second class, 1951),[1] People's Prize (History, 1958), title of People's Artist (1958)[2]
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
한설야
Hancha
Revised RomanizationHan Seol-ya
McCune–ReischauerHan Sŏrya
Birth name
Chosŏn'gŭl
한병도
Hancha
Revised RomanizationHan Byeongdo
McCune–ReischauerHan Pyŏngdo

Han Sorya (Korean: 한설야, born Han Pyŏngdo;[4] 3 August 1900 – 6 April 1976) was a Korean writer, literary administrator and politician who spent much of his career in North Korea. Regarded as one of the most important fiction writers in North Korean history, Han also served as head of the Korean Writers' Union and Ministry of Education.

During his career, Han survived a number of purges that were caused by factional strife within the Workers' Party of North Korea, to become a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. Han, motivated by personal grievances against his rival writers, sometimes acted as the force behind the purges within the cultural establishment as well. Han himself was purged in 1962. In his works, Han offered some of the earliest known contributions to the cult of personality of Kim Il-sung. His influence is felt in North Korea even today, though his name has been forgotten from official histories. Han's best-known work, the anti-American novella Jackals, however, has been invoked in the 2000s.

  1. ^ Wit 2015, p. 44.
  2. ^ Myers 1994, p. 191.
  3. ^ 황치복 (September 2002). 한일 전향소설의 문학사적 성격-한설야(韓雪野)와 나카노 시게하루(中野重治)를 중심으로 [The Characteristics of the Novel of Conversion in Korea and Japan]. 한국문학이론과 비평. 16: 342–368. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  4. ^ Myers 1994, p. 189.