Kim Seungok Literary Award Grand Prize Goes to Choi Eunmi's Short Story "Kim Chunyoung"

Grand Prize: 50 Million Won Awarded
Excellence Awards: Kang Hwakyil, Kim Insook, Kim Hyejin,
Bae Sua, Choi Jinyoung, Hwang Jungeun
Each Excellence Award Winner Receives 5 Million Won

Munhakdongne announced on August 21 that Choi Eunmi's short story "Kim Chunyoung" (published in the 2025 summer issue of the quarterly "Changjakgwa Bipyeong") has been selected as the Grand Prize winner of this year's Kim Seungok Literary Award.

Choi Eunmi, Grand Prize Winner of the Kim Seungok Literary Award. Munhakdongne

Choi Eunmi began her literary career in 2008 through "Hyundae Munhak" and has published the short story collections "Neomu Areumdaun Kkum" ("Too Beautiful a Dream"), "Mokryeonjeongjeon," "Nun-euro Mandun Saram" ("A Person Made of Snow"), the novels "Ahopbeonjjae Pado" ("The Ninth Wave"), "Maju," and the novella "Eojeneun Bom" ("Yesterday Was Spring"). She has received the Daesan Literary Award, Hyundae Literary Award, Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, Heo Gyun Literary Writer Award, Hyundae Buddhist Literary Award, and Young Writers Award.

The panel of judges praised the winning work, stating, "The intense, quiet, and eerie sorrow held by Kim Chunyoung, who neither easily evaporates nor explodes but remains in place, advances several steps beyond the critical awareness or density of any previous work or study."

The Kim Seungok Literary Award was established in 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of novelist Kim Seungok's debut, known for works such as "Mujin Journey" and "Seoul, Winter 1964." The award is given to the best short story published during the year by a writer with more than ten years of experience, and the Grand Prize comes with a prize of 50 million won.

This year's Excellence Awards went to six works: Kang Hwakyil's "Form of the Mold," Kim Insook's "Space Sexology," Kim Hyejin's "Vintage Postcard," Bae Sua's "Blind Detective," Choi Jinyoung's "The Returning Night," and Hwang Jungeun's "No Problem, One Day." Each recipient will receive a prize of 5 million won.

The collection of award-winning works will be published in October this year. The award ceremony will be held in November in Suncheon, Jeonnam, where Kim Seungok spent his childhood and teenage years.

Munhakdongne, the organizer of the Kim Seungok Literary Award, also announced the winners of the 2025 Munhakdongne New Writer's Award.

In the poetry category, Park Jaemin's "Zoo" and five other poems were selected; in the fiction category, Choi Hyungkyung's "Baekjung Prayer" was chosen; and in the criticism category, Yoon Okjae's "Tal·Gwi·Mu: Becoming the Self in 2020s Korean Poetry, Focusing on the Works of Oh Eunkyung, Heo Jooyoung, and Shin Iin" was awarded.

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