Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, South Korean author: “We must not forget the horrors our parents experienced”

“This is my first visit to Chile, but I have already been to South America twice,” he says. Worship through the nooks and crannies of email, South Korean illustrator Keum Suk Gendry-Kim one of the guests of Port of Ideas Festival, which will take place this weekend in Valparaíso. Gendry-Kim made a name for himself with two stunning graphic novels Grass (2022) and The wait (2023), published by Reservoir Books. In both cases, he addressed thorny questions linked to the memory of his country.

In the case of the first, it tells the true story of Lee Ok-Sun, a young Korean who, during the Japanese occupation of the country – as part of the Second World War – was exploited as a “comfort woman”. That is, a sex slave for the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army and they called the prisoners by this euphemism. He met her when she was older, in a nursing home, and the woman told him her story. “I met her in a place where these women lived. It was about the “shared house”. That’s how I met Ms. Lee. and she told me her life story,” says Gendry-Kim.

While in the second, based on a character, Gwija, he tells the drama of families separated during the Korean War since there were members who remained on one side or the other of the border that separated North Korea from South Korea. Gwija, now 92 years old, wants to find her eldest son, whom she lost sight of in a column of refugees fleeing the north, while she was breastfeeding the baby she was carrying in her arms. The Red Cross is their hope of achieving this.

The lecture by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim – who has sold out all the tickets for his lectures – will discuss these volumes. Here’s how she explains it: “It’s about people and especially women in history during and after the war. Women occupy a very important place in all my creations. I will also talk about what motivates me in the choice of subjects I tackle and my creative process.

– What inspired you to create graphic novels and how did you decide to become an illustrator?

After finishing my studies at the Beaux-Arts in Strasbourg, I moved to Paris. Life there was very expensive, it was difficult for me to continue working in my field which was sculpture. I then began to produce three-part comic strips in a Korean publication published every week in France, telling the daily life of a Korean in the country. I also worked as a French translator of Korean comics. By translating them, I discovered the strength and potential of the graphic novel. This motivated me to tell stories through comics.

– What is the illustrated novel market in your country?

There are fewer and fewer comics in paper format. In Korea, there is a large market and investments are being made in the webtoon. but there is very little production of graphic novels by Korean authors. There aren’t many readers either.

– In your work, you have explored the memory of the war. Why are you interested in the theme of Memory?

Studying the past teaches us not to repeat the same mistakes. The duty to remember is something important. In pursuing the present and future of our children, we must not forget the horrors of the wars our parents experienced.

– What was the most difficult thing in the process of creating the book?

Many female “sex slaves of the Japanese army” died. Those who survived continued to suffer even after the war ended. because their lives, like those of their families, were shattered by the war. Most had to remain silent for a long time. They were victims, but they carried some guilt, as often happens with people who provided sexual services. I thought about them a lot when creating Grass. My heart felt oppressed.

– In Grass , if you check the most difficult parts, you draw a fade to black. Have you thought about how to describe abuse?

I chose not to show scenes of sexual violence directly in images. I thought a lot about how to show and make people feel violence and suffering without making them appear.

– In The wait tells the story of the separation of families during the Korean War. What was the process by which you learned the story?

When I was a kid, there was a TV show that featured the reunions of families separated during the Korean War. At that time, my mother had been trying to find her older sister. That’s how I discovered it.

– I understand that Gwija is a fictional character but based on his mother. Did she give her opinion on this?

Ever since I was little, my mother has always trusted me. When I announced that I would write a fiction book about her, she smiled at me and told me that I should represent her as a beautiful woman. She is very old but still very pretty.

– Do you think these problems have been resolved in your country?

It is often very complicated.

– What do you think of Artificial Intelligence?

I don’t know much about the subject to speak about it. I am a craftsman. I work daily with very specific tools: paper, brushes, ink. But some of my friends are worried about creative rights and possible job loss.

– Are you afraid of Artificial Intelligence?

No, for the moment, I’m not afraid. I just wish it was used for good causes.

Keum Suk Gendry-Kim will have two activities in the Port of Ideas Festival. The first, the Saturday November 11 at the Aula Magna of the University of Valparaíso, at 6:30 p.m. where, with the linguist Paloma Domínguez, he will develop the presentation The worlds of Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Meanwhile, the Sunday 12, in the same place, but at 10:30 a.m. he will speak with the columnist of La Tercera, Paula Escobar, in speech Traces of memory. Tell and illustrate the weight of war.