An internationally celebrated South Korean novelist has apologised over a plagiarism scandal that has shocked her country and prompted a publisher to stop printing one of her books, a report said on Tuesday.
Man Asian Literary Prize-winning author Shin Kyung-Sook met with public fury after allegations surfaced last week that she had copied a piece by the famed late Japanese author Yukio Mishima. Seoul literary critic Lee Eung-Jun wrote in an online essay published last week that Shin’s 1996 short story “Legend” included paragraphs lifted from “Patriotism” written by Mishima in 1960.
The allegation prompted a storm of controversy, with one civic activist calling for Seoul prosecutors to investigate Shin for fraud.
Shin, 52, has been the face of South Korean literature abroad since winning the prestigious Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012. for her international bestseller “Please Look After Mom”.