Svetlana Alexievich awarded Korean international peace prize
Belarusian writer and journalist Svetlana Alexievich has been awarded the 6th Jeju 4·3 Peace Prize.
Established in 2015, the Jeju 4·3 Peace Prize honors the spirit of reconciliation and coexistence demonstrated by the people of Jeju in addressing the legacy of the April 3 Incident and the subsequent Jeju Massacre. Jeju 4·3 refers to the tragic governmental crackdown and civilian massacre that took place on the island from 1947 to 1954.
Presented biennially, the prize recognizes individuals who have significantly contributed to peace, human rights, democracy, and social integration worldwide.
Born in 1948 in Ukraine, Alexievich is an investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian who writes in Russian. She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature 'for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time,' becoming the first Belarusian writer to receive the honor.
Throughout her career, the 76-year-old writer has documented the suffering and resilience of vulnerable individuals -- particularly women and children -- who endured historical tragedies such as World War II, the Soviet-Afghan War and the Chernobyl disaster.
Alexievich writes "novels of voices," according to the Nobel committee, using interviews with a wide range of subjects to create a tapestry of reportage. One of her most renowned works, 'The Unwomanly Face of War,' sheds light on the experiences of women whose voices were often neglected in male-dominated war narratives.
'Alexievich has not only supported the values of democracy through her literary work but has also embodied the principles of peace through both her writing and her life,' said the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation.
The Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation will hold the award ceremony on April 29. The prize includes a plaque and a cash award of $50,000.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
03-04-2025
- Korea Herald
Svetlana Alexievich awarded Korean international peace prize
Belarusian writer and journalist Svetlana Alexievich has been awarded the 6th Jeju 4·3 Peace Prize. Established in 2015, the Jeju 4·3 Peace Prize honors the spirit of reconciliation and coexistence demonstrated by the people of Jeju in addressing the legacy of the April 3 Incident and the subsequent Jeju Massacre. Jeju 4·3 refers to the tragic governmental crackdown and civilian massacre that took place on the island from 1947 to 1954. Presented biennially, the prize recognizes individuals who have significantly contributed to peace, human rights, democracy, and social integration worldwide. Born in 1948 in Ukraine, Alexievich is an investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian who writes in Russian. She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in literature 'for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time,' becoming the first Belarusian writer to receive the honor. Throughout her career, the 76-year-old writer has documented the suffering and resilience of vulnerable individuals -- particularly women and children -- who endured historical tragedies such as World War II, the Soviet-Afghan War and the Chernobyl disaster. Alexievich writes "novels of voices," according to the Nobel committee, using interviews with a wide range of subjects to create a tapestry of reportage. One of her most renowned works, 'The Unwomanly Face of War,' sheds light on the experiences of women whose voices were often neglected in male-dominated war narratives. 'Alexievich has not only supported the values of democracy through her literary work but has also embodied the principles of peace through both her writing and her life,' said the Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation. The Jeju 4·3 Peace Foundation will hold the award ceremony on April 29. The prize includes a plaque and a cash award of $50,000.
Korea Herald
01-04-2025
- Korea Herald
YouTuber donates profits from 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' reviews for Jeju Island
Contribution made to the foundation commemorating the island's painful history of civilian massacre in 1940s and 50s A local YouTuber said recently he was donating the entire profits he made with review videos about a hit drama "When Life Gives You Tangerines" to the Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation, a government-funded body that commemorates the civilian massacre that took place on the island from 1947 to 1954. Kim Hong-gyu, the Jeju-born YouTuber and comedian, said he has made about 3.43 million won ($2,334) with the review videos. "I've thought a lot about how I should use this money. ... Many people don't really know about April 3, so I decided to donate the profits of (review videos of) 'When Life Gives You Tangerines,' which carries the spirit of Jeju, to the Jeju 4.3 Peaceh Foundation." Kim revealed the transaction record of him sending 5 million won, the rest coming out of his own pocket, to the foundation. He expressed his wishes that more people would take interest in the incident, and care more about the Jeju Island. Kim was born and raised on the island and currently resides in Jeju City. Most of his videos are comedy sketches and reviews of local eateries, and Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Government in 2023 recognized his contributions by naming him a PR ambassador for the southern island. The popular Netflix series "When Life Gives You Tangerines" does not directly depict the April 3 Incident, but focuses on the lives of those living in 1960s Jeju. The April 3 Incident or Jeju Massacre refers to the island-wide crackdown by the newly liberated Korea's authorities against what they said were communist collaborators. In what is considered one of the worst abuses of state power in the country's history, at least 14,822 civilians are confirmed to have been killed or gone missing in the incident as of 2024, nearly 1,000 of whom were aged 10 or younger.
![[Korea Quiz] Han Kang](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fres.heraldm.com%2Fcontent%2Fimage%2F2024%2F10%2F23%2F20241023050109_0.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Korea Herald
22-10-2024
- Korea Herald
[Korea Quiz] Han Kang
Find the answer at the bottom. Born in November 1970 in Gwangju, Han Kang's literary career began in 1993 when she published poems in the winter edition of the quarterly magazine, "Literature and Society." Since then, she has been honored with numerous awards, writing work that addresses universal human issues such as death and state violence through intense poetic prose. Most recently, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, becoming the first South Korean and the first Asian woman to be decorated with the prize. The Swedish Academy's Nobel Committee, in announcing Han's award on Oct. 10, remarked, 'In her oeuvre, Han confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules, revealing the fragility of human life.' Of her works, two delve into human suffering and resilience against the backdrop of Korea's turbulent modern history. "Human Acts' deals with memories of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising and massacre; "We Do Not Part" recounts the tragedy and inherited grief of the April 3 Incident in the late 1940s on the southern island of Jeju. 'The Vegetarian,' Han's first book to be translated into English, was a major international breakthrough, winning the International Booker Prize in 2016. The book tells the story of Yeong-hye, whose decision to stop eating meat and adopt a vegetarian lifestyle leads to dramatic consequences for her and her loved ones. "Please Look After Mom" is a novel by another Korean author, Shin Kyung-sook. The international bestseller, which won the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012, portrays the heartbreaking story of an elderly mother who disappears, prompting family members to reflect on their treatment of her throughout their lives.
