Gochang County, Author Lee Sujeong Wins the Sin Jaehyo Literary Award

Award-Winning Work: "Supporting Actor Kim Sunhyo"

On the 31st, Gochang County in North Jeolla Province announced that the award ceremony for the 4th Gochang Sin Jae-hyo Literary Award was held in the conference room on the 5th floor of the county office.

The winning work was "Supporting Actor Kim Sunhyo" by writer Lee Sujeong, who received a certificate and a prize of 50 million won. Lee Sujeong emigrated to the United States in 2000 and is currently working as a coordinator at a local library in New Jersey while continuing her writing career.

Gochang County held the 4th Gochang Sin Jae Hyo Literary Award ceremony on the 31st in the conference room on the 5th floor of the county office. Photo by Gochang County

In 2016, she won the Excellence Award at the 18th Overseas Korean Literary Awards for her short story "Dance of Sound." She later received the Grand Prize at the Overseas Korean Literary Awards in 2022 for "Tiger Mask," was selected for the New Year's Literary Contest by the Yeongnam Ilbo in 2024 for "Spring in Kota Kinabalu," and was also selected for the New Year's Literary Contest by the Segye Ilbo in 2025 for "When Breath Rises," demonstrating her consistent literary activity.

The winning piece, "Supporting Actor Kim Sunhyo," has been praised as a work in which the protagonist, during a trip to Gochang with her mother, discovers secrets about her birth and family, and through the process of accepting them, comes to understand the meaning of family and the essence of the love that sustains it.

County Governor Shim Deokseop said, "The fact that Gochang serves as the backdrop for reflections on family and love makes it even more meaningful to me," and added, "It is even more significant that the Gochang Sin Jae-hyo Literary Award, now in its fourth year, is reaching out to the world." He offered his congratulations.

The Gochang Sin Jae-hyo Literary Award was established in 2021 to promote Gochang as a cultural tourism resource by soliciting and awarding original full-length novels based on stories from Gochang, thereby laying the foundation for the production of various cultural contents such as films, dramas, and musicals.

Previous winning works include "Geumpa" (Kim Hyesook/1st), "Yeombu" (Park Iseon/2nd), and "Joseon People Hirayama Hideo" (Lee Junho/3rd). Submissions for the 5th Gochang Sin Jae-hyo Literary Award are being accepted until August 31.

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