Cho Nam-joo

Cho Nam-joo (born in 1978) is a Korean writer and author. She is best known for her 2016 novel Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, which has sold more than a million copies and is often credited with propelling a feminist movement in South Korea.[1]

Cho Nam-joo
Born1978
Korea
EducationEwha Womans University
Occupation(s)Writer and author
Notable work"Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982" (2016)

Personal life

Nam-joo was born in South Korea in 1978.[1] She grew up in Bucheon and moved to Seoul with her family at the age of five.[1][2] During her mother's pregnancy with Cho, her father promised her uncle—who had five daughters—that if the baby was born a boy, he would gift the child to the uncle to raise.[3][2] Ultimately, she was raised by her own parents.

As a child, Nam-joo loved reading, but she didn't have money for books, and her local public libraries in the poor outskirts of Seoul where she lived were barely functioning.[2] She borrowed the few books she could and reread those stories again and again.[2]

Nam-joo attended all-girls' school for middle school, high school, and college.[4] She graduated from Ewha Womans University with a sociology degree.[5] Nam-joo currently lives in Seoul with her family.[3]

Career

Nam-joo began her career in television as scriptwriter.[6] She spent nearly a decade as a writer for TV programs about current events at a broadcasting station.[2][5][4] She left work to raise her child, then returned as a writer. She published two novels before her hit book, Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982 was published in 2016.[2] By 2023, she has published or signed for 10 books.

Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982

Nam-joo published her third novel, Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982, in 2016.[6] Originally written in Korean, it has been translated into more than 18 languages and sold more than one million copies.[7][3]

Its publication in 2016 coincided with South Korea's very own #MeToo Movement, prompting a feminist reckoning and an urgent nationwide debate about gender inequality.[5] The book is considered not just a novel but also cultural "reportage" and a "social treatise."[5]

The slim novel is intended to portray an average Korean woman from childhood and through career and motherhood—the name Kim Ji-Young is the Korean equivalent of Jane Smith.[3][2] It is the story of a 33-year-old stay-at-home mother who is driven to a psychotic break by misogyny and expectations on motherhood in Korean culture.[7] The book is filled with footnoted statistics that reveal real gender inequalities steeped in South Korean.[5]

Cho wrote the novel in 2015 within a span of just three months.[5][8] The book is inspired by her own life and experiences—after a decade of working, she left her career to raise her child for a period, then found it difficult to reenter the workforce.[5] So, she used this time to leverage her sociology degree and began collecting articles and sociological data to inform her book.[5]

A film adaptation of Kim Ji-Young, Born 1982, featuring actress Jung Yu-mi in the titular role, was released in Korea in 2019 to critical acclaim.[2][9]

References
  1. Statesman, New (2022-11-23). "Cho Nam-joo Q&A: "I want to live without colliding with humans"". New Statesman. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  2. "Cho Nam-joo: the novelist inspiring east Asia's #MeToo movement". Financial Times. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  3. Williams, Holly (2020-02-15). "South Korean author Cho Nam-joo: 'My book is braver than I am'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  4. "Bringing to light the subtle sexism in modern Korea: Cho Nam-joo's book reflects the discrimination many women face daily". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  5. Alter, Alexandra (2020-04-08). "The Heroine of This Korean Best Seller Is Extremely Ordinary. That's the Point". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  6. "Scribner snaps two novels and a short story collection from Cho Nam-Joo". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  7. Hong, Euny (2020-04-14). "In This Korean Best Seller, a Young Mother Is Driven to Psychosis". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  8. Hu, Elise (April 19, 2020). "South Korean Bestseller 'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' Gives Public Voice To Private Pain". NPR. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  9. Eun-byel, Im (2018-11-28). "[Newsmaker] Feminist book 'Kim Ji-young, Born 1982' becomes million seller". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
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