Choi Sukhae - First Meeting

Korean novelist. His real name was Choi Hak Song, and his pen name was Seo Hae. He was born in North Hamgyong Province. He grew up in a very poor family and dropped out of elementary school in the third grade. At the age of 16, he moved to Jiandao (now Yanbian, Jilin Province, China), where he worked as a firewood collector, a tofu seller, and a site supervisor at a boarding house. He returned to Korea in 1923, and published about 50 short stories over the course of 10 years while working as a magazine journalist. His early short stories, such as "Escape Record" and "Death of Pattol," were based on his experiences of impoverished life, and depicted the love between family members living together in extreme poverty and their rebelliousness against the root causes of poverty, showing an inclination towards proletarian literature.

[Masuo Ohmura]

"Selection of Korean Short Stories, Vol. 1" edited and translated by Masuo Omura, Shokichi Naga, and Hisakatsu Saegusa (Iwanami Bunko)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

朝鮮の小説家。本名は崔鶴松、曙海は号。咸鏡北道(かんきょうほくどう／ハムギョンプクド)の生まれ。極貧の家庭に育ち、小学校も3年で中退している。16歳のとき間島(かんとう／チエンタオ)（現中国吉林(きつりん／チーリン)省延辺(えんぺん／イエンピエン)）地方に移住、薪(たきぎ)取り、豆腐(とうふ)屋、飯場の現場監督などもした。1923年に帰国し、雑誌記者生活などをしながら10年間に50編ほどの短編を発表。『脱出記』『パットルの死』など初期の短編は彼の貧窮生活の体験を基礎にし、極度の貧困のなかで肩を寄せ合って生きる肉親の情愛と、貧困をもたらす根本原因への反抗の念を描いて、プロレタリア文学への傾斜を示した。

［大村益夫］

『大村益夫・長璋吉・三枝壽勝編・訳『朝鮮短篇小説選　上』（岩波文庫）』

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