Best-selling Korean author of thrillers in town for K-Lit 2023

MANILA, Philippines — Much of South Korean culture that many Filipinos know today are through the Korean dramas and movies that are quite popular. 

Many of these titles, however, were first written down as books, and one of South Korea's popular authors was in town to talk about her books. 

Jeong You-jeong rose to global popularity through her two English translated books, "Seven Years of Darkness" and "The Good Son." 

Both are psychological thrillers, a genre that You-jeong is popular in. She writes about free will and and how the characters' wrong choices ruin their lives. 

"When a writer writes a story, it would be determined by that writer's preference or the background like how he or she grew up. Her childhood into adulthood," Jeong said in Korean. 

She faced the press at last Thursday's talk for the featured writers at pop-up exhibit titled "K-Lit: Turning Pages of Korea," on view until November 18, in the Korean Cultural Center in Taguig City. 

Writing about free will

Her book, "Seven Years of Darkness," along with Son Wonpyung's "Almond" and Cheon Meyung-gwan's "Whale,” have their own sections in the pop-up exhibition. 

The Korean author continued: "For example, Stephen King. We know that Stephen King focused on the darkness of humanity, that evil side we have. We also have [Ernest] Hemingway, who tried to show humanity facing death and how humans react while facing death. For me, I would say I focus on the free will of humans and the choices that humans will make. 

"Free will, I would say, is connected to the inner peace that we have. Every one has that in our hearts, minds. Sometimes people make mistakes by taking the wrong path and sometimes we manage to go the righteous way but then in my stories, I choose the people taking the wrong path and how it would ruin their lives eventually... This would be the turning point and would serve as a reference point for the readers," she shared. 

"Seven Years of Darkness" tells the story of how three men try to uncover the death of a young girl, without revealing their own secrets. 

"The Good Son," meanwhile, features two brothers, one of them adopted, and the murder of their mother. 

These dark novels actually were born out of the mind of a former emergency room (ER) and intensive care unit (ICU) nurse who successfully transitioned from the hospital to writing novels. 

Jeong said her experience in her 20s as a nurse helped her write the stories in her books. 

Her promotional photos usually depict her as somber, but she is quite the opposite in person as she has an easy smile and eyes that light up. On the day of the press conference, she was wearing a white blouse, jeans and boots, while her hair was styled.

While the two mentioned books have yet to see their screen adaptations, Jeong's other books have been adapted into films. 

Her favorite, she confessed, is the more light yet a little bit psychological adaptation of her novel with the same name "Shoot Me in the Heart," where she had a cameo role. 

It stars Lee Min-ki, the actor of the current hit show "Behind Your Touch," and Yeo Jin-goo, whose drama credits include "My Absolute Boyfriend," "Hotel del Luna" and "Beyond Evil." 

While she may be known as a writer of thrillers and dark stories, Jeong hopes to sway Philippine readers that she is more than that. 

Her sense of humor, as event host Jessica Zafra pointed out, belie the seriousness of her thrillers. As an example, Jeong quipped about writing all her books before artificial intelligence takes over because she bets they can write better than humans and professed her love for San Miguel, the favorite Filipino beer.  

"My heart was racing really fast upon hearing that it will be my first time visiting the Philippines because of this book event. I was also wondering if Philippine readers have a different perspective or interpretation of the books I've written. I was curious if the Philippine readers were afraid of me like Korean readers do based on my novels. This time, I wanted to change my image through the Filipino readers, that I'm not a scary person, but also a sweet and warm-hearted person," Jeong said. 

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