Author Han Kang on the afternoon of Dec. 7 speaks at this year's Nobel Prize lecture in literature at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden. (Nobel Prize's official Facebook page)

By Kim Hyelin
Video = Nobel Prize's official YouTube channel

Author Han Kang, the first Korean and Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, on Dec. 7 gave her thoughts on writing at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden.

In her Nobel Prize in Literature lecture "Light and Thread," she explained what she contemplated and felt when writing her books ranging from a collection of eight poems in 1979 to "The Vegetarian," "The Wind Blows, Go," "Greek Lessons," "Human Acts" and "I Do Not Bid Farewell."

Han spent a longer time on the background that spurred her to write"Human Acts." She said she was deeply shocked after seeing at age 12 a photo album on the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Movement, which led her to question violence by humans.

She said repeated questions drove her writing for a long time such as "Why is the world so violent and painful?" and "And yet how can the world be this beautiful?"

"From my first novel to my most recent, perhaps the deepest layer of all my questions has always been directed towards love," she added.

On her next book, she said, "I will go on writing, however slowly. I will move past the books I've already written and continue on."

"I try to infuse vivid sensations that I feel as a mortal being with blood coursing through her body into my sentences. As if I am sending out an electric current," she added. "And when I sense this current being transmitted to the reader, I am astonished and moved. In these moments I experience again the thread of language that connects us, how my questions are relating with readers through that electric, living thing."

"I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who have connected with me through that thread, as well as to all those who may come to do so."

At the Konserthuset (Concert Hall) of Stockholm, the writer on Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. will receive her historic honor at this year's Nobel Prize ceremony.