She has written seven other novels and seven story collections. The inspiration for Please Look After Mother came decades earlier, before she had published a single book. 'When I was 16, I moved from the countryside to Seoul for high school,' she says through a translator.

'I took a night train with my mother to go to school. When I was looking at my mother's face I could see how hard her life was. And so I thought, when I go to the big city, and become a successful writer, at some point I would like to write the most beautiful piece of writing dedicated to my mother.'

Seven years later, she became a writer. 'But it took me another 27 years to write this book,' she says. 'It started as a book for my mother. But during those 27 years there were a lot of changes, for myself, and [on a wider scale] due to modernisation. In the process of modernisation, we have lost a lot of things. So the word 'mother' represents all the things that have been lost to all of us.'

Please Look After Mother is a beautiful piece of writing. The language, characters and plot elicit an emotional response, but the book rises above sentimentality. Shin's mother was pleased with the novel. 'She told me, 'Thank you. I'm very proud of you and you did a very good job'.' A smile blooms across her face as she recounts this moment. Shin has an air of calm about her and exudes a quiet confidence. When she speaks, she is sure of her words, and there is kindness in her voice.

Perhaps one of the reasons why Please Look After Mother is so popular is that it makes readers examine their own relationship with their mothers. It makes them ask themselves if they show their mother enough appreciation and love. 'We take things for granted, until they are lost or gone,' Shin says. 'Only when something is gone does it really hit us.'

Readers took the theme of the novel to heart and made an effort to connect with their mothers. 'I heard a funny story about a male reader who lives apart from his mother and normally never calls her,' she says, laughing. 'He called and said, 'I love you, mother.' The mother actually responded by saying, 'Why, is there something wrong?''

When I tell her I cried so much while reading her book, I could have filled a teacup with my tears, she says: 'During the writing process, I didn't think people would cry so much. I felt that it was something we all go through, something that we all have to face. I thought I was writing in an objective way. But the opposite happened when I published it. Crying can mean ... different things. It can mean sadness. But it can also be part of the process of healing or cleansing your soul.'

Shin believes in the power of writing and reading to effect change and shape character. That could be why Please Look After Mother is such a moving novel. She intends to enrich her readers' lives, and guide them to think about family, and the things in life that are truly important.

'When the time comes, you can actually use the knowledge and the feelings you got through reading. It can have a positive effect on your life decisions,' she says.

Her desire to help her countrymen regain what they have lost in modern times was evident during her Man Asian Literary Prize acceptance speech in Hong Kong in March. 'Korea is the only divided country in the world, and it has been more than half a century since the country has been divided into two,' she said to a crowd that included fellow nominees Banana Yoshimoto and Amitav Ghosh.

'People have fled the North and who have arrived in China are being sent back to the North. People who left the country to gain a life have been turned back to their deaths. I want the world to know this story.'

She wanted to take the opportunity to draw attention to Korea's plight, she says. She did not think of her statement as a political act. She simply hoped it would bring awareness to the issue. 'Since then I've been getting a lot of responses about that comment in the speech. So I think the Man Asian Prize is a very effective, very influential prize.'

Shin returned to Hong Kong last month as the guest of Asia Literary Review, for the launch of the journal's Korean literature issue. Her ascent to literary stardom has sparked a worldwide interest in Korean culture beyond its television dramas and pop stars.

'The lack of knowledge about Korean literature had to do with lack of translation. My book was one of the first to be published in English and it's definitely created more interest in Korean literature.

'It's happening step by step. Other authors are being contacted by foreign publishers. Korean writers are also being introduced in journals like Asia Literary Review.'