Novel on N. Korea’s human rights to be published

Novel on N. Korea’s human rights to be published. February. 07, 2017 07:04. by Taek Kyoon Sohn sohn@donga.com. A revised edition of the Accusation, a novel written by an anonymous North Korean author to offer a glimpse into the human rights in North Korea, will be published in South Korea. Dasan Books, a South Korean publisher, announced Monday that it will publish a revised version of the Korean novel with a renewed cover design on next Monday, with the first printing of the Accusation in English (paperback edition) having been made in South Korea last year.

The Accusation consists of seven short stories of criticism and satire against the North Korean regime. The book, which is reported to have been penned by Bandi (alias), a member of the Central Committee of the North Korean Writers Association, was first printed in May 2014, on an individual website in South Korea called Chogapje.com, based on the original scripts, which were brought to South Korea when the author’s cousin defected from the North. “The copyright negotiation went amicably thanks to the forthcoming agreement on the part of the first publisher with the intent to expose the book to more readers,” said an official of Dasan Books.

English translation will be done by Deborah Smith, who won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize for her translation of the Vegetarian, a novel written by the critically acclaimed female Korean writer Han Kang. In January, the English version of the Accusation was selected as one of the award-winning novels by PEN International, a worldwide association of writers founded in Britain. The hardcover edition of the Accusation will be released in early March.