Han Kang’s new novel explores South Korea’s history

Nobel laureate’s We Do Not Part revisits the Jeju massacre and its lasting legacy.

Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 laureate, South Korean writer Han Kang, reads on stage at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 12, 2024, days after receiving her award at the Nobel Prize award ceremony. Photo by Henrik Montgomery/AFP/Getty Images

By Novanka Laras and Hayu Andini

We Do Not Part, by Han Kang; translated by E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris

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Han Kang’s latest novel, We Do Not Part, draws readers into the aftermath of a traumatic historical event while exploring the enduring legacy of pain and memory. The book begins with a shocking and deeply symbolic moment—a character accidentally saws off the tips of two fingers in a woodworking accident. Though surgeons manage to reattach them, the recovery process is excruciating. A caregiver must regularly pierce the sutures with needles to ensure proper blood flow, an agonizing but essential act to preserve the nerves.

“They said we have to let the blood flow, that I have to feel the pain,” the character explains. “Otherwise, the nerves below the cut will die.”

This visceral image sets the tone for a story that navigates personal and collective trauma. Han Kang, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in October, has long been known for her unflinching exploration of pain, both physical and emotional. In We Do Not Part, she takes readers to Jeju Island, where an uprising in the late 1940s led to one of South Korea’s most devastating massacres.

The Jeju massacre, which occurred between 1947 and 1954, remains a deeply sensitive chapter in South Korea’s history. During this period, government forces, anti-Communist militias, and police carried out widespread killings to suppress dissent. An estimated 30,000 people lost their lives, including women, children, and the elderly. Entire villages were burned, and the survivors lived with the stigma of being branded as “Communist sympathizers.”

For years, the events were omitted from history books, with victims and their families suffering in silence. In We Do Not Part, Han brings this hidden history to light. The protagonist, Kyungha, is a writer haunted by nightmares that lead her to Jeju’s snow-covered hills. As Kyungha retraces the steps of those affected by the massacre, she uncovers stories of multigenerational suffering and resilience.

This journey of discovery is deeply personal for Han Kang, who spent time living on Jeju as a young writer. During her stay, a local landlady once pointed to a nearby cement wall and casually remarked, “This is where people were shot and killed that winter.” Years later, Han’s memories of Jeju resurfaced in a series of vivid dreams, which she interpreted as a call to confront the island’s painful past.

Han Kang’s fiction has consistently explored themes of pain, memory, and survival. In her earlier novel, Human Acts, she depicted the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, a pro-democracy movement violently suppressed by the South Korean government. We Do Not Part builds on these themes, connecting individual experiences to larger historical events.

In a recent interview, Han described her approach to writing about trauma. “It’s pain and it is blood, but it’s the current of life, connecting the part that could be left to die and the part that is living,” she said. “Connecting dead memories and the living present, thereby not allowing anything to die off.”

Her work resonates globally because it addresses universal themes of grief and remembrance. As Theresa Phung, general manager of Yu & Me Books in New York, observed, “Han Kang has this incredible ability to take very specific cultural contexts and make them feel universal. Whether you’re reading about Gwangju or Jeju, these are stories that echo across time and place.”

Han Kang’s Nobel Prize win has brought renewed attention to her body of work, which includes poetry, short stories, and novels. Her international breakthrough came in 2016 with The Vegetarian, a haunting tale that won the International Booker Prize. Since then, her works have been translated into 28 languages, introducing global readers to her unique voice.

Despite the acclaim, Han remains deeply committed to her craft. She writes with the precision of a poet, carefully choosing each word and phrase. Kim Seon-young, who edited the Korean version of Human Acts, recalled Han’s meticulous approach: “She once joked that if her plane crashed, I wasn’t allowed to change a single syllable of our disagreements, even if the grammar was slightly off.”

Han has largely avoided the spotlight since receiving the Nobel Prize, retreating to her home in Seoul to focus on her writing. Her son, overwhelmed by the sudden attention, requested that she avoid mentioning him in interviews. Still, Han acknowledges the significance of the award, especially during a politically fraught time in South Korea.

Han’s Nobel win coincided with a period of political turmoil in South Korea. In December, President Yoon Seok Yul declared martial law and sent troops into the National Assembly, an act that evoked memories of past authoritarian regimes. The move was met with widespread protests, eventually leading to the repeal of martial law.

For Han, these events underscored the enduring relevance of her work. “The memories of ’79 and ’80, whether they experienced it directly or indirectly, they knew it should not be repeated,” she said. “In that way, the past and present are connected.”

In We Do Not Part, this connection is palpable. Kyungha’s journey through Jeju’s snow-covered landscape becomes a metaphor for the broader struggle to reconcile past atrocities with the present. Han’s writing emphasizes the importance of remembering, even when it is painful.

Through her exploration of historical trauma, Han Kang gives a voice to the silenced and forgotten. Her works serve as a bridge between the past and the present, ensuring that the victims of tragedies like the Jeju massacre are not erased from memory.

We Do Not Part stands as a testament to Han’s literary vision. By intertwining personal narratives with historical events, she offers readers a profound meditation on pain, memory, and the resilience of the human spirit. As Han continues to write, her work remains a powerful reminder of the importance of confronting the past to shape a more compassionate future.

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