[Power K-Women] "Not related by blood but connected... Nothing we can't do when we become 'family'"

Immigrated to the US at Seven... Gained Awareness of Discrimination and Hate
Noticed for Short Film 'Joguk'... Completed 'Pachinko' Over 30 Years
Writing 'American Hakwon' "Hope All Readers Become Korean"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] ‘we are powerful family.’ This is a phrase that author Min Jin Lee always writes when signing books. It embodies her belief that "although we are not related by blood, we are connected. When we become ‘we’ instead of ‘I,’ there is nothing we cannot accomplish." She emphasizes ‘solidarity’ based on understanding. For this reason, her novels primarily explore themes of ‘class,’ ‘discrimination,’ and ‘hatred.’

These themes were influenced by her experiences growing up abroad. Born in Seoul in 1968, she boarded a plane to the United States with her parents at the age of seven. During the difficult times when five family members lived in a one-room apartment infested with rats, she had to endure racial discrimination against Asians. Her awareness of issues related to class, discrimination, and hatred was naturally acquired.

She began projecting this awareness into her writing during her university years at nineteen. Skipping classes to attend a missionary lecture was the catalyst. The testimony of a white missionary about a Korean-Japanese child who was bullied and took their own life left a deep scar on her heart. The words written by the child’s friends in the graduation album?"Go back to where you came from," "You smell like kimchi," "Die, die, die"?were deeply etched in her mind. This was the seed that sprouted into the novel PACHINKO.

However, she did not immediately dream of becoming a writer. Although she often heard that she had a talent for writing since high school, the atmosphere of the time made the idea of a woman becoming a novelist seem strange, which discouraged her. Ultimately, she pursued a career in law. After graduating from Georgetown University Law Center in 1992, she worked as a corporate lawyer and seemed to be a success story in immigrant society. But that period did not last long. Her health deteriorated due to liver disease, making it impossible to continue working. She confessed, "I was living busily as if someone was chasing me from behind, but after hearing from a doctor that I could have liver cancer, I decided to live differently. I wanted to do something meaningful." Thus, in 1996, she inevitably picked up the pen after leaving the legal profession. She decided to write about the lives of Koreans living in Japan.

She researched and investigated persistently. Like her nickname ‘Turtle,’ she wrote steadily without rushing, and in 2002, she published the short story ‘Homeland.’ This story, which inspired PACHINKO, won the PEN/Hemingway Award. She testified that the recognition she received at that time gave her great strength to write PACHINKO over the next 30 years.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The writing of PACHINKO gained momentum while she was living in Japan in 2007. Her Japanese-American husband was assigned to Tokyo, allowing her to directly see and hear about the lives of the ‘Zainichi’ Koreans living in Japan. This experience led Min Jin Lee to extensively revise the manuscript she had written. She recalled, "Humbled by the complex and vast life stories of the people I met in Japan, I discarded the old manuscript and started writing the book again in 2008. Since then, I have written, rewritten, and revised it over 30 years." During the revision process, the original draft, which was so uninteresting that even her husband said he couldn’t read it because it was boring, was significantly changed. The original protagonist, Solomon, who was too kind and had a comfortable life to fit the grand narrative, was pushed to a supporting role, and the protagonist Sunja, who was not in the original draft, was born.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

When PACHINKO was published in 2018, its impact spread widely around the world. It deeply illuminated the lives of Koreans who had no choice but to wander in foreign lands due to incompetent governments, highlighting the pain of the contemporary ‘diaspora.’ However, it does not portray those scattered by the diaspora merely as victims, aligning with the first sentence of PACHINKO: "History has failed us, but it does not matter." Min Jin Lee revealed that the first sentence of her novels serves as a ‘thesis statement’ that reveals the entire work. The first sentence of ‘Free Food for Millionaires,’ considered the first work of the diaspora trilogy preceding PACHINKO, is "Talent can be a curse." It realistically depicts the intergenerational, class, and gender conflicts experienced by the second-generation immigrants who are talented and well-educated but slip at the threshold of success.

The final installment of the diaspora trilogy is a story about Korea’s passion for education. The title is ‘American Academy.’ Currently, the author resides in New York, USA, and is dedicating herself to writing it. Due to her passionate nature, she interviews and analyzes hundreds of related people when working on the book, so it will take some time, but through this work, she plans to explain Korea’s ‘hagwon’ to the world. She explains, "The knowledge about Koreans known worldwide is only partial. Without understanding hagwon, you cannot understand Koreans."

Just as she did not translate the Japanese word ‘Pachinko’ into English but kept it as ‘PACHINKO’ in the title, she plans to introduce ‘hagwon’ without translating it into ‘academy’ or similar terms. This is because, just as the raincoat ‘Burberry’ originated from the British brand Burberry, foreigners need to borrow Korean words as they are to understand Korean concepts.

Min Jin Lee places great importance on ‘complete meaning transmission.’ This is why she is particularly meticulous about translations. In July, despite a PACHINKO sold-out frenzy, she changed publishers and released a new translation. She referred to translation as ‘the work of literary angels and artists’ and said, "Every expression is extremely important. It is crucial that the carefully crafted expressions are translated while preserving the original storytelling. Writing is a rebellious and revolutionary risky act, and I needed a publisher who would understand that." This was the reason she chose Influential as her new partner.

"I hope all readers of my book become Korean." This was Min Jin Lee’s statement at the press conference celebrating the revised edition of PACHINKO in August. Just as good literary works draw readers into the era of the work, she means that the stories Koreans have experienced should be widely known worldwide. She emphasizes that only when understanding is assumed can we truly become ‘we.’

Min Jin Lee says that the domestic response to her work feels like finally receiving replies to the love letters she had sent. She said, "At first, I was worried because only non-Asians were reading it, but now I am grateful that many people like it. When I hear responses like ‘Now I finally understand my mother,’ or ‘Now I can talk with my father,’ it is very rewarding and heartwarming." She emphasizes, "When we are connected as family (through the work), there is nothing we cannot do." The gaze of the global community, who have become or will become family, is directed toward Koreans.

▶Who is Min Jin Lee?

She is a Korean-American novelist who has received worldwide attention and love. With sharp perspectives and empathy as a person living between cultures, she has captured complex histories and the essence of humanity, rising to the ranks of global authors. Born in Seoul in 1968, she moved to New York with her family at age seven. After studying history at Yale University, she graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and worked as a lawyer but quit due to health issues and began pursuing her long-held dream of writing. She began gaining attention by publishing short stories from 2004 and made her name as a novelist with her first novel, ‘Free Food for Millionaires,’ in 2007, which tells the story of American immigrants. Her second novel, PACHINKO, published in 2017, was selected as ‘Book of the Year’ by 75 media outlets including The New York Times and BBC and has been translated and published in 33 countries. This year, she was inducted into the New York State Writers Hall of Fame and received the Manhae Literary Award and Diaspora Literary Award in Korea. She currently resides in New York and is focused on writing the third novel, the final installment of the ‘Korean Diaspora Trilogy.’