In South Korea, the novel “Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982” by Cho Nam-Joo has sparked debate since it was first published in 2016. The book chronicles the life of Kim Jiyoung, a 33 year old woman living on the outskirts of Seoul with her husband and infant daughter. She is tired of the monotony in her life and resents the fact she gave up a marketing job. There is not much excitement in her life, and that is the whole point.
Cho backs up the monotony with facts to show how ordinary life is for Kim. She references actual statistics from 2014 on the rate in which women left the workforce for more traditional family roles. Even though the book is fiction, it is based on statistics to ground some of it in fact.
When "Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982" was published, it acted as a call to arms within South Korea. It acted as a catalyst to national debate on gender equality, being endorsed by K-Pop stars and even South Korean politicians. A copy was even given to President Moon Jae-in and local governments have passed measures on areas such as childcare while promising there would be “no more sorrow for Kim Jiyoung.”
The book, in addition to more feminist literature published, exposes how South Korea, while an economically advanced nation, lag far behind in social advances. It's a first-world country, and yet there are parts of its culture that are clearly wrong.
The Heroine of This Korean Best Seller is Extremely Ordinary. That's the Point
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