Story written in Japanese by Hong Myeong-hee discovered

A short story written in Japanese and contributed to a Japanese literary journal in 1911 by Hong Myeong-hee (1888-1968, penname: Byeokcho), has been discovered. Hong is the writer of the famed Korean epic novel "Im Kkeok-jeong."

Korean academic journal The Contemporary Bibliography in its July issue made public Hong’s short story entitled "Will." Sesko Hatano, a professor emeritus of Korean studies at Japan’s Niigata University, recently discovered in the Japanese magazine Literary World published in 1911.

"Will" amounts to 1,000 characters in Japanese, and contains the story of the narrator who sends a letter suggesting that he will commit suicide and another letter indicating he will not commit suicide, and its recipient who sends a reply by considering the two letters as a joke.

김동욱 기자creating@donga.com