Standing ovation at the call of “Dear Han River”… Korea’s first Nobel Prize in Literature winner

Novelist Han Kang (54) stood tall among the world’s leading writers on the 10th (local time), becoming the first Korean and first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Han Kang attended the 2024 Nobel Prize Ceremony held at the Konserthuset Concert Hall, a landmark in Stockholm, Sweden, on the afternoon of that day and received the Nobel Prize medal and diploma from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Swedish novelist Ellen Mattsson, a lifetime member of the Academy, said in a five-minute speech before the award ceremony that Han Kang’s works “speak of unspeakable cruelty and irreparable loss,” and that “they are ultimately a quest for the truth.”

The awards ceremony began with the King’s entrance. Then, as the orchestra played Mozart’s March, Han Kang, wearing a black dress, entered with the other award recipients and sat on the left side of the center of the stage.

Han Kang was named fourth in the order of awards by category, following the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology or Medicine.

Ellen Mathson, who announced the winner of the literature award, addressed her in English as “dear Han River” and asked her to “come forward to receive the award from His Majesty the King.”

As Han Kang rose from his seat and headed toward the center of the stage, everyone in the audience stood up, and there was a burst of applause as he received his medal and certificate, smiled brightly, and shook hands with the King.

Source: Yonhap News