Elementary School Students Dominate Internet Novel Cafés

Yoo Chung-hee (12), a sixth grade student at Hodong elementary school in Ansan, Gyeonggi, said, “Some people keep looking down on me because I’m an elementary school student, but how would they know that on the Internet? Writing novels has become a part of my life. I find subject matter in movies or dramas and add flesh to them in my writing.”

Chung-hee wrote a story called “My World,” which is about a 16-year-old girl named Eun-joo who suffers from schizophrenia. Chung-hee said, “I got the inspiration from the movie ‘A Beautiful Mind.’ I once wrote a fairy tale-like story, but it didn’t gain popularity among the nurigguns (netizens).”

Huh Hyun-jung (11), a fifth grade student from Jamdong elementary school in Songpa, Seoul, entered the “Hall of Fame” of April at Junior Naver through her novel, “Still Shy In Front of You.”

The background of the story is Ha-gyeong High School. The story is about a bookworm boy student, Sin Ra-min, and a delinquent girl student, Yoon Hae-won, who meet and start liking each other. Hyun-jung said, “I want to be a famous writer like Guiyeoni.”

The elementary school students are taking over the Internet novel world.

Among the 392,000 members of the “love story production café” at the Internet portal site Daum, members at the elementary grade level comprised of 16.4 percent (63,000).

Compared to 78,000 novels posted in the middle school students’ room, and 34,000 in the high school students’ room, there are 215,700 novels posted in the elementary school students’ room, taking the first place by a great margin.

Currently, there are 142,000 novels posted in the “elementary playroom” section of Junior Naver.

Kang Ye-eun (12, a sixth grade student at Bang-il elementary school in Seocho, Seoul) said, “I usually write novels when I’m tired. I find peace through writing novels.” Ye-eun goes to a math private institute on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, takes piano lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays, English and art lessons on Wednesdays, and receives violin lessons on Saturdays.

Elementary education professor Lee Sung-eun at Ewha University said, “Since the Internet has become a part of their lives, current elementary school students are actively expressing themselves through ‘web literature’ mode.”

Yi-Young Cho lycho@donga.com