"Final Statement" as an Offering of Cleansing
Kang Mansoo Shares the Solitude and Hardship of Prison Life
Autobiographical Stories Reflecting Injustice and Endurance
Kang Mansoo, former Minister of Strategy and Finance (age 80), who published the short story collection "Final Statement" (Chosun News Press), held a book concert at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 26th and made the above remarks. He said, "Prison is what made me write fiction. The cell was filled only with endless hours of black solitude, agony, and hardship," and explained, "With a heart that felt as if it was coughing up blood, I wrote, and that book is 'Final Statement.'"
Former Finance Minister Kang Mansu speaking at a book concert held last November at the Life Insurance Education and Culture Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
Former Minister Kang passed the national administrative examination at the top of his class in 1970 and served as an economic bureaucrat in public office for over 30 years. During the 1997 foreign exchange crisis, he served as Vice Minister of Finance and Economy, and during the 2008 global financial crisis, he was Minister of Strategy and Finance, leading efforts to overcome these crises. However, he had to endure prosecution investigations with every change of administration. In 2016, he was imprisoned for over four years on charges of being involved in the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering corruption scandal during his tenure as president of Korea Development Bank.
The short story collection "Final Statement" includes the novella "Final Statement," written during his imprisonment, as well as five short stories and two flash fiction pieces. Most are autobiographical, reflecting his experiences of hardship each time the administration changed.
He said, "After extinguishing a fire started by others during the 1997 IMF bailout, I spent 10 years in political exile, and after preemptively overcoming the 2008 global crisis, I spent five years in prison," adding, "The solitude, hardship, and shame of the black valley that felt like death made it impossible for me not to write fiction."
Regarding his choice to write in the genre of fiction rather than a prison memoir, he said, "There was strong opposition from those around me, so I decided to write it as fiction," and added, "I want to leave it to the reader’s imagination to decide which parts are fact and which are fiction." In 2022, Kang won the New Korean Fiction Award in the short story category for "Like a Camellia," which tells the story of reuniting with his first love. He emphasized, "The hardships and shame that felt like death made it impossible for me not to write fiction."
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