Former Finance Minister Kang Mansu Debuts as Novelist

Selected for the Korean New Novel Award with "Dongbaekkkotcheoreom"

Photo by Korea Development Bank

Former Minister of Strategy and Finance Kang Man-soo has debuted as a novelist. The Korean Novelists Association announced on the 13th that Kang was selected for the 73rd Korean New Novelists Award.

The winning work is the short story "Like Camellia Flowers." It tells the story of a protagonist who graduated from law school, passed the civil service exam in the finance sector, and met his first love Haeja again after 50 years. Like the protagonist in the novel, Kang graduated from Seoul National University Law School and pursued a career as an economic elite bureaucrat. He served as Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and Minister of Strategy and Finance under the Lee Myung-bak administration. He also promoted policies such as the employment-study concurrent system and deregulation as the President’s Special Economic Advisor and Chairman of the National Competitiveness Enhancement Committee, and served as Chairman of the Korea Development Bank Financial Group and President of the Korea Development Bank.

He has authored economic books such as "30 Years of the Korean Economy Seen from the Field (2005)" and "Chronicles of Economic Crisis Response Seen from the Field (2015)," but this is his first novel. The judging panel commented, "His ability to maintain the theme and subject matter stood out. The sentences, structure, and appropriate psychological descriptions are also stable." The Korean Novelists Association selects new novelists four times a year.

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