Elementary School Teacher and Author Mungyeongmin: "I Hope My Novel Is Supported by Teachers"

Current Elementary School Teacher Publishes Novel 'Jikyeoya Hal Segye'
Winner of the 13th Honbul Literary Award

"Because I know this world well, it was a novel I had to write someday. I hope it becomes a novel supported by teachers."

This is what writer Moon Kyung-min (47), a current elementary school teacher who published the novel The World to Protect (Dasan Books), said. The novel deals with the death of the protagonist Jung Yoon-ok, a female teacher with 30 years of experience. The protagonist, who lived more fiercely than anyone else while striving to become a 'different kind of teacher' from the teachers she had experienced, boldly opposed wrongful practices. She ran a night school and devoted herself to the teachers' union movement, even risking dismissal in the process. Even with two years left in her teaching term, she did not hesitate to take on the homeroom teacher role that everyone opposed. On the day of the closing ceremony, she slipped on the snowy ground, fell into a coma for a year, and then passed away. The novel goes against the context of that death and focuses on Yoon-ok's wildness (a resolute attitude toward life).

Author Moon Kyung-min, winner of the 13th Honbul Literary Award for the work "The World to Protect," is expressing his acceptance speech at a press conference held on the morning of the 11th at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the publication meeting held on the 11th at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, writer Moon explained, "I wanted to write a story about people, about salvation," and added, "I wanted to write a good work that touches people's hearts."

Moon, who is now in her 21st year as a teacher, began seriously writing in 2013. Since her appointment in 2002, she had been immersed in her role as 'Teacher Moon Kyung-min' and expanded her identity to 'Writer Moon Kyung-min' based on that experience. She wrote late into the night at cafes near her home and devoted all her available time on days off to writing. Introducing herself as a "workaholic," Moon said, "When holidays were long, my health actually deteriorated."

The novel written by a current teacher about school gained significant attention amid public opinion on teacher rights violations. The book indeed contains some content related to teacher rights violations, but Moon said, "The book came out around the same time as the Seoicho incident, so people might think it reflects those events, but it does not. Such incidents existed 6 to 7 years ago as well and have accumulated until now." She added, "As the tendency to prioritize one's own interests deepens, shameless barbarity toward others subtly appears inside and outside the classroom. That part saddened me, and I wrote this with the hope of restoring the essence."

There were many twists and turns before the novel was published as a book. Although it received favorable reviews in several contests, including the final round of the 2017 Changbi Novel Award, it did not win any awards at that time. During that period, she once expanded the manuscript to 1,200 pages and then reduced it, and made various attempts such as changing the protagonist's gender from male to female. After such efforts, she eventually won the 13th Honbul Literary Award (with a prize of 70 million won).

Moon said, "No matter what reality we face, I want to say, despite everything, let us forgive and love."

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