Award-winning novelist Park Wan-Sue dies at 80

Award-winning novelist and essayist Park Wan-sue has died of gallbladder cancer. She was 80.

Park was pronounced dead Saturday after having been diagnosed with the disease last year. She underwent surgery in October but her condition rapidly worsened.

Born in 1931 in Gaepung County, Gyeonggi Province, in present-day North Korea, Park became a novelist in 1970 when her epic novel "Namok (Bare Tree)" won a contest organized by Women`s Dong-A, a magazine published by The Dong-A Ilbo.

She was a prolific writer who steadily produced stories including “Mommy`s Stake,” “Widow,” “Who Ate up All the Shinga?” and “Was That Mountain Really There?” Her final work was the essay "The Road Not Taken Is More Beautiful,” published last year.

Her nickname was “Forever Young.”

Park won prominent literary awards including the Incheon Award in 2000, Korea Literature and Literary Award, Lee Sang Literary Award, Republic of Korea Literature Award and Dongin Literary Award. She also received the Bogwan Order of Culture Merit in 1998.

She became a UNICEF ambassador in 1993 and was appointed to the National Academy of Arts in 1994.

Park entered Seoul National University`s Korean literature department in 1950, but had to drop out due to the Korean War. In 2006, she became the first Korean writer to receive an honorary doctorate in literature from the university.

She is survived by her children Ho Won-suk, a writer; Ho Won-sun and Ho Won-gyeong, Seoul National University medical professors; and Ho Won-gyun. Her sons-in-law are Hwang Chang-yoon (Shilla University professor) Kim Gwang-ha (CEO of Doi Co.), Gwon Oh-jeong (Sungkyunkwan University medical professor) and Kim Jang-seop (Daegu University professor).

Park`s funeral hall is set up at Samsung Seoul Hospital and her coffin will be unveiled at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday. She will be buried at Catholic Park Cemetery in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

kimjy@donga.com