VOL.93/2026.04

New Books

 

How close are we, and how far apart?

 

 

2026.04

 

 

 

Nearby World, a collaborative project planned and written by Kim Yeon-su and Hirano Keiichiro, prominent novelists representing Korea and Japan, has been published. Nearby World is the first installment of the Cross series, in which two authors living in different languages and cultures select a theme, in this case, ethical dilemmas, and each complete a work to be bound into a single volume. Author Kim Yeon-su explains that the term ethical is not a binary distinction between right and wrong, but rather an attitude of contemplating each person's own truth and sense of rightness within events where the desires of countless humans are intertwined. The volume includes Kim Yeon-su's Our Failure followed by Hirano Keiichiro's The Decisive Moment, concluding with a dialogue between the authors about human desire, choice, free will, and fatalism that they pondered while writing.

 

The theme of “ethical dilemma” is a keyword that penetrates the literary worlds of both authors and a reflection on the issues faced by their respective countries and societies. In Kim Yeon-su's Our Failure, the story recalls past memories that created the present moment through a character named Son Dong-ha, who exposes the corruption of the president's relatives involved in a state affairs scandal. Son Dong-ha's relatives, who accumulated wealth through real estate speculation in Gangnam, the area with the highest housing prices in Seoul, were involved in various connections and scandals, and his disclosure creates a historical turning point leading to the president's impeachment. Regarding Son Dong-ha, who puts his decision into action despite the risks of bankruptcy and imprisonment, author Kim Yeon-su describes it as “free will embracing fate.”

 

Hirano Keiichiro's The Decisive Moment begins with a story about Kasumi, a curator preparing for a retrospective exhibition of the late famous photographer Sakaki Manoru, who happens to discover several photographs. The photographs of a beautiful young boy’s naked body and sexual organs, completely unknown during Sakaki's lifetime, bring great confusion to Kasumi. Having nurtured her dreams as a curator through her interactions with Sakaki, Kasumi faces an unpredictable risk and uncertain dread as his photographs depicting pedophilia surface just two months before an exhibition that would have a major impact on her future.

 

Facing an ethical dilemma over the personal and social repercussions of either holding or canceling the exhibition, how will Kasumi's choice affect her future? The author's insight is impressive as it quietly contemplates the testimonies and long-standing wounds of victims following the MeToo movement in Japanese society. Nearby World speaks to readers about moments that require decisions and actions that transcend fate as beings living together with others, grounded in the sense that our lives are interconnected. This is because such choices create true decisive moments in life, rather than failures.

 

 

 

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Written by Jung-Ah Shin (Culture Critic, Adjunct Professor, Division of Performing Arts, Baekseok Arts University)

A TV documentary writer who has scipted over 400 episodes, the author is deeply interested in the intersection of cultural content and humanistic imagination. With a love for the stories of people and the world embedded in media, she believes in the power of good content to change the world. Major publications include Elderly in Media, Elderly outside Media, Living with AI, New Media and Story-doing, Cultural Content and Transmedia, and Media Literacy Education for Digital Literacy, etc.