Privacy concerns see South Korean gay author’s books pulled by publishers – he outs people as homosexual without consent
- A writer of autofiction, Kim Bong-gon has revealed private information about people he knows, including their sexual orientation, without their consent
- Despite apologies from Munhakdongne Publishing and Changbi Publishers, multiple authors have now started boycotting them
By Park Ji-won
South Korea’s leading publishers have suspended publication of award-winning gay author Kim Bong-gon’s books as they reveal the private information of various acquaintances without their consent, even disclosing their sexual orientations.
Munhakdongne Publishing said it would stop selling Kim’s embattled Summer, Speed (2018) and The 11th Young Writer Award Collection (2020) over the complaints raised against the two books, while apologising to the victims.
“We confirmed that there were complaints against author Kim Bong-gon’s novel Summer, Speed on social media and Kim admitted it. To prevent further damage and take additional measures over the situation, we decided to stop publishing the book and The 11th Young Writer Award Collection. We apologise to anyone affected,” the publisher wrote on Twitter.
Changbi Publishers also said it would stop publishing Times and Mood, a collection of Kim’s works, as there were similar problems with the story Such Lives (2020). It apologised to those affected.