Nobel Prize winner refraining from press conference over ongoing wars

Han Kang, a novelist who became the first South Korean to win the Nobel Prize in literature, decided to not hold a press conference out of respect for those affected by ongoing wars, including Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

That’s according to Yonhap, Ukrinform reports.

“Han decided not to hold a press conference for her award out of consideration for those suffering from the ongoing global conflicts, including those between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israel and the Hamas militant group, according to her father,” the report reads.

The publishers said Han would not participate in any separate interviews and will instead share her thoughts through her acceptance speech in Stockholm on December 10.

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The Swedish Academy announced Han as this year's laureate, recognizing the 53-year-old "for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life."

Han is the first Asian female winner in literature and the second South Korean Nobel laureate after former President Kim Dae-jung, who was awarded the peace prize in 2000.