Courtesy of Simon Berger

I first came across the work of Kang Minsoo when someone shared an article he had written refuting the notion that Korean people possess an untranslatable profound sorrow or regret known locally here as "han." For a modern scholar, particularly one versed in literature, to challenge something that has been so instrumental in the creation and reproduction of Korean poetry, music, and film over the past few decades was extremely refreshing. Minsoo was writing something that many felt and often expressed in social media posts. However, few if any had gone to the same lengths in playing out their ideas publicly with such a degree of sophistication and, perhaps most importantly, empathy.

Minsoo was no doubt conscious that many would take umbrage with his ideas, particularly those in the Korean-American community who often seem to cling more proudly to essentialist ideas about the Korean people than those who live on the actual peninsula. He was also writing at a time when there was a slew of articles and commentary appearing that promised to shed light on global cultural successes such as "Squid Game" and "Parasite" by utilizing ideas such as “han” and a quasi-orientalist understanding of what it means to be Korean. He thus appeared to me as someone willing to swim upstream.

I reached out to him, curious to know more; to listen and learn. We spent hours talking on my podcast about history and Korea and, in doing so, I became aware of his personality, his charm, and his humor. My wife still affectionately refers to him as the guy who kept falling down in his chair while talking to me. Having seen his recent appearance on The Korea Society, I can confirm he still has the wonderful idiosyncracy. Since then, through in-person dinners and coffee on his visits to Seoul, as well as seeing his fart jokes, love of cats and self-deprecating humor about his weight on social media, I’ve come to develop something of a relationship........

© The Korea Times