Han River in Black Dress, Korea's First Nobel Literature Prize Winner

"Figures of the Han River Are Weak but Possess the Strength to Ask Questions"

Novelist Han Kang, wearing a black dress, became the first Korean and the first Asian woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Nobel Prize award ceremony was held at 4 p.m. local time on the 10th at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Sweden. Sweden is 8 hours behind Korea, so the ceremony started at midnight on the 11th Korean time.

The ceremony began with an orchestra performance. King Carl Gustaf XVI of Sweden and other members of the Swedish royal family were seated on the right side, while the laureates, including Han Kang, were seated on the left side.

The awards were presented in the order of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Economics. Before each category's award presentation, one of the 18 lifetime members of the Swedish Academy gave an award speech on stage for about 6 to 7 minutes. Han Kang received the Nobel diploma and medal from King Gustaf XVI approximately 50 minutes after the ceremony began, close to 1 a.m. on the 11th Korean time.

Novelist Han Kang, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, receives a medal and certificate from King Carl Gustaf XVI of Sweden at the award ceremony held at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Sweden on the 10th (local time).
Photo by AP Yonhap News

The award speech for the Literature Prize was delivered by Ellen Mattson, a Swedish novelist and one of the lifetime members of the Academy.

Mattson did not explicitly mention it, but her speech included brief comments on Han Kang’s works “I’ll Be Right There” and “The Boy Who Escaped”.

Mattson began her speech by saying that Han Kang’s works bring together two colors: white and red. She explained that white is a protective barrier between the narrator and the world but also represents sorrow and death, while red symbolizes life but also pain, blood, and deep wounds cut by a knife. She added that Han Kang’s voice can be remarkably gentle but speaks of indescribable cruelty and irreversible loss.

Mattson also said that the soul of the murdered boy asks, “Who killed me?” This is interpreted as referring to Dong-ho, a middle school student who was murdered in The Boy Who Escaped. Mattson emphasized the need to remember that the purpose is not oblivion and that forgetting is not possible. She further stated, “The characters in Han Kang’s novels are vulnerable, easily wounded and fragile, but at the same time, they possess just enough strength.” She added, “Therefore, they take one step further to ask another question, demand records, or engage in conversations with other living witnesses.”

The ceremony lasted about 70 minutes. After the ceremony, Han Kang will attend a banquet held at the Blue Hall of the Stockholm City Hall starting at 7 p.m. Nobel laureates are expected to give brief acceptance speeches around 10:35 p.m. when the banquet concludes.