| ▲ This Yonhap file photo shows Korean author Han Kang, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, giving a lecture at the "9th World Korean Language Writers' Conference" held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju in 2023. (Yonhap) SEOUL,
Oct. 10 (Yonhap) -- Korean novelist Han Kang has been named the recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, marking the first time a South Korean writer has won the prestigious award. The announcement was made on October 10 (local time), recognizing Han’s literary contributions on the global stage. The Nobel Prize in Literature, considered the highest honor in the literary world, is awarded to authors whose work meets the criteria set by prize founder Alfred Nobel—namely, those who have produced "outstanding work in an ideal direction" in literature. Since its establishment in 1901, the prize has been awarded 117 times to 121 individuals. Unlike the scientific fields, it is rare for the prize to be shared, with only four instances of joint awards in 1904, 1917, 1966, and 1974. The prize was not awarded during the World Wars. Han Kang becomes the 18th woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The recent trend of alternating male and female laureates since 2012 continues with Han’s win, following last year’s award to Norwegian author Jon Fosse. Historically, French authors have won the most Nobel Literature Prizes (16), followed by those from the United States (13), the United Kingdom (12), Sweden (8), and Germany (8). Most laureates have come from Western countries. Han's win also marks the first time in 12 years that an Asian writer has received the prize, the last being Chinese author Mo Yan in 2012. The Nobel Literature Prize has been declined twice in its history. Russian author Boris Pasternak initially accepted the prize in 1958 for his novel Doctor Zhivago, but was forced to reject it due to pressure from the Soviet government. In 1964, French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre declined the prize as he had a long-standing policy of rejecting all official honors. The youngest recipient of the Literature Prize was British author Rudyard Kipling, who won in 1907 at the age of 41 for The Jungle Book. The oldest was British writer Doris Lessing, awarded in 2007 at the age of 87. Among unexpected laureates is former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who won the prize in 1953 for his memoirs, often mistakenly thought to be a Nobel Peace Prize recipient due to his political career. Another notable winner was American folk rock legend Bob Dylan, whose 2016 win sparked debates about the scope of the prize. Notable Nobel Literature Laureates since the 1980s:▲ 2024: Han Kang (South Korea, writer)
= The Vegetarian, Human Acts
▲ 2023: Jon Fosse (Norway, writer)
= Septology VI-VII, Morning and Evening, A Dream of Autumn
▲ 2022: Annie Ernaux (France, writer)
= Simple Passion, Happening, The Years
▲ 2021: Abdulrazak Gurnah (Tanzania, novelist)
= Afterlives, Paradise, By the Sea
▲ 2020: Louise Glück (USA, poet)
= The Triumph of Achilles, Ararat, The Wild Iris
▲ 2019: Peter Handke (Austria, novelist/playwright)
= Offending the Audience, Walk About the Villages, Repetition, Storm Still
▲ 2018: Olga Tokarczuk (Poland, novelist)
= The Books of Jacob, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Flights
▲ 2017: Kazuo Ishiguro (UK, novelist)
= A Pale View of Hills, The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go, Nocturnes
▲ 2016: Bob Dylan (USA, poet and singer)
= Recognized for creating poetic expressions within the American song tradition
▲ 2015: Svetlana Alexievich (Belarus, journalist/writer)
= Voices from Chernobyl, War’s Unwomanly Face
▲ 2014: Patrick Modiano (France, novelist)
= Missing Person, Dora Bruder, Villa Triste, etc.
▲ 2013: Alice Munro (Canada, novelist)
= Short story collections Dance of the Happy Shades, Lives of Girls and Women, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
▲ 2012: Mo Yan (China, novelist)
= Red Sorghum, Rain Falling on a Spring Night
▲ 2011: Tomas Tranströmer (Sweden, poet)
= Windows and Stones, The Baltic, Memories Look at Me
▲ 2010: Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru, novelist)
= Pantaleón and the Visitors, The Green House
▲ 2009: Herta Müller (Germany, novelist)
= The Land of Green Plums, The Appointment
▲ 2008: J.M.G. Le Clézio (France, novelist)
= The Interrogation, Desert, The Flood
▲ 2007: Doris Lessing (UK, novelist)
= Martha Quest, The Fifth Child
▲ 2006: Orhan Pamuk (Turkey, novelist)
= My Name is Red, The White Castle
▲ 2005: Harold Pinter (UK, playwright)
= Celebration, Remembrance of Things Past
▲ 2004: Elfriede Jelinek (Austria, novelist)
= The Piano Teacher, Lust
▲ 2003: J.M. Coetzee (South Africa, novelist)
= Disgrace
▲ 2002: Imre Kertész (Hungary, novelist)
= Fatelessness
▲ 2001: V.S. Naipaul (UK, novelist)
= The Enigma of Arrival
▲ 2000: Gao Xingjian (China, playwright)
= Soul Mountain
▲ 1999: Günter Grass (Germany, novelist)
= The Tin Drum
▲ 1998: José Saramago (Portugal, novelist)
= Blindness, Baltasar and Blimunda
▲ 1997: Dario Fo (Italy, playwright)
= Accidental Death of an Anarchist
▲ 1996: Wisława Szymborska (Poland, poet)
= The End and the Beginning
▲ 1995: Seamus Heaney (Ireland, poet)
= Death of a Naturalist
▲ 1994: Kenzaburo Oe (Japan, novelist)
= A Personal Matter
▲ 1993: Toni Morrison (USA, novelist)
= Jazz, Beloved
▲ 1992: Derek Walcott (Saint Lucia, poet)
= Omeros
▲ 1991: Nadine Gordimer (South Africa, novelist)
= Burger's Daughter
▲ 1990: Octavio Paz (Mexico, poet)
= The Labyrinth of Solitude
▲ 1989: Camilo José Cela (Spain, novelist)
= The Family of Pascual Duarte
▲ 1988: Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt, novelist)
= The Thief and the Dogs
▲ 1987: Joseph Brodsky (USA, poet)
= A Part of Speech, Less Than One
▲ 1986: Wole Soyinka (Nigeria, playwright)
= The Lion and the Jewel, The Man Died
▲ 1985: Claude Simon (France, novelist)
= The Flanders Road
▲ 1984: Jaroslav Seifert (Czechoslovakia, poet)
= The Casting of Bells
▲ 1983: William Golding (UK, novelist)
= Lord of the Flies
▲ 1982: Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia, novelist)
= One Hundred Years of Solitude
▲ 1981: Elias Canetti (UK, novelist)
= Auto-da-Fé
▲ 1980: Czesław Miłosz (Poland/USA, poet)
= The Captive Mind, The Issa Valley
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