The book won the 1966 Long Dean Literary Prize
“The Square” is one of the most important contemporary Korean novels that dealt with the human alienation that arose under the pressure of the war on the Korean Peninsula, which resulted in the establishment of two Korean states. The fratricidal conflict has not stopped since then and has been reflected internally on the inhabitants of both parts of the peninsula until our present era.
The novel presents the life of the hero, Lee Myung-joon, who is plagued by anxiety and the search for ideals, and his convictions push him to leave his love more than once and travel in search of a homeland in which a balance is achieved between justice and freedom...
The novel “The Square” by Nashwa Ibn Hun was published for the first time in November 1960. It was a great success and gained critical and public appreciation in South Korea.
Choi In-hun was born in 1936 in Horyeong City, Ha Miguel Province
North, currently located in North Korea. He fled with his family to the South when the Korean War broke out in 1950. He studied law at Seoul National University, but joined the army without completing the last semester.
His literary career began while he was in military service, after which he worked as a professor of creative writing at the Seoul Institute of Arts between 1977 and 2001 (1977-2001). He died in 2018
