"Pain from Unwanted Coming Out"... The 'Outing Through Fiction' Controversy Resurfaces Again

Kim Sehee's Novel 'Outing Controversy'... Victim "Suffering from Unwanted Coming Out"
Literary Critic "Queer Literature Represents Minority Identity... Careful Representation Ethics Needed"

Author Kim Sehee's novel Love in the Harbor.
Photo by Minumsa

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] There is a growing controversy over claims that an individual was outed and experienced invasion of privacy, including exposure of family matters, due to content depicted in writer Kim Sehee's novel.

Following last year's controversy over novelist Kim Bonggon's 'unauthorized citation of private conversations,' unethical creative practices within the literary community have repeatedly surfaced, drawing strong criticism. Experts emphasize that queer literature, representing minority identities, requires more meticulous ethics in representation.

On the 23rd, a netizen identified as A claimed on Twitter that they are the character 'Inhee' and 'H' from Kim Sehee's novel Hanggu-ui Sarang (Love of the Harbor), as well as 'Byeol' from the short story Daedabeul Deutgo Sipeo (I Want to Hear the Answer), and alleged that they were outed (having their sexual identity disclosed by others) due to the works.

Published in 2019, Hanggu-ui Sarang is a novel depicting the love lives of teenage girls at an all-girls high school in the early 2000s. It is an autobiographical novel set in Mokpo, the hometown of Kim Sehee, and gained significant popularity as a female queer novel. Daedabeul Deutgo Sipeo is a short story with a sequel-like nature to Hanggu-ui Sarang, included in the summer issue of the quarterly magazine Munhakdongne the same year.

A, who stated they had been friends with Kim Sehee for 18 years, said that in Hanggu-ui Sarang, "I was carefully used in fragments as both a main and supporting character as needed," and "physical traits and episodes of a real person were used without consent."

Regarding Daedabeul Deutgo Sipeo, A said, "Private conversations and episodes were included exactly as they were, without changing a single word, from beginning to end." A claimed that details about them were used as key elements in Kim Sehee's novels, leading to private questions from acquaintances and alumni, unwanted coming out, and resulting in harm and psychological distress.

A netizen's claim of experiencing privacy invasion due to specific descriptions in writer Kim Sehee's novels Love at the Harbor and I Want to Hear the Answer. Photo by Twitter

Writer Kim Sehee has denied A's claims as untrue. In a statement released through a law firm on the 26th, Kim said, "'Hanggu-ui Sarang' and 'Daedabeul Deutgo Sipeo' are both novels and works of fiction," adding, "It is impossible to identify any individual who claims to have been outed based on the descriptions in the novels."

She continued, "Even if based on reality, the characters are not real people, and selecting one or two anecdotes or dialogues to reveal universal patterns does not constitute an invasion of a specific person's privacy," and stated, "We cannot agree with claims of illegal defamation based on falsehoods and will inevitably take legal action."

Minumsa, the publisher of Hanggu-ui Sarang, also issued a statement on the 25th, saying, "We acknowledged the issues raised by A and requested fact-checking from the author but confirmed a clear difference in positions," and "Since the facts regarding the alleged harm have not yet been confirmed, we had no choice but to withhold judgment on the author and the work." They stated they would withhold measures such as suspension of publication until the harm experienced by A is proven.

Meanwhile, Munhakdongne decided to temporarily suspend sales of the quarterly issue containing Daedabeul Deutgo Sipeo.

Novelist Kim Bong-gon.
Photo by Yonhap News

This is not the first time the literary world has faced privacy invasion issues due to autobiographical novels. In July last year, Kim Bonggon, who wrote the short stories Geureon Saenghwal (Such a Life) and Yeoreum, Speed (Summer, Speed), caused controversy by quoting private conversations with acquaintances verbatim in his novels without permission, leading to privacy invasion allegations.

One of the victims at the time was outed due to content explicitly mentioned in Kim's novels, which also contained conversations that caused sexual shame. In response, Changbi and Munhakdongne, publishers of Kim's collection, suspended sales, issued refunds, and recalled all copies, while Kim returned the 11th Young Writers Award he had received from Munhakdongne.

Among the public, there has been a flood of criticism toward Kim Sehee and the publisher's response. Demanding that the victim prove the harm suffered is seen as a form of 'secondary victimization.' Some have even declared a boycott, vowing not to purchase books from this publisher anymore.

One netizen said, "Asking the victim to explain in detail what harm they suffered feels violent," and criticized, "Shouldn't at least minimal measures be taken until the issue is resolved?"

Another netizen stated, "If the person says their life was involuntarily turned into a work, temporary measures should be taken first to prevent further harm," and added, "Writing and publishing novels about minority lives while neglecting the real minorities is a contradictory and irresponsible response."

Experts emphasize that as readers' ethical awareness regarding literary representation has increased, careful consideration is now required in creation and depiction.

Literary critic Heo Hee explained, "In the past, like Japanese I-novels, there was a literary representation and custom of creating novels as they are for the sake of reality. Such practices were somewhat tolerated. However, recently, readers' ethical awareness has become very high, and a literary community cautious of causing harm to someone's life through such representation has been formed by readers."

He added, "Queer literature, representing minority identities, demands even greater ethical awareness. The simple claim of 'I am writing my own story' is difficult to accept," and emphasized, "Authors and publishers must consider the ethics of creation and representation more carefully. When such issues arise, responses should prevent secondary harm to victims rather than taking unilateral defense or abstract positions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.