KOREAN FOLKLORE CORNER-AUG 2024

KOREAN FOLKLORE CORNER

By Joshua Kim

A Lucky Day (운수 좋은 날) is a short story written by Hyun Jin-geon in 1924. Hyun was a pioneer of realism in Korean literature and frequently wrote about life in Korea during the Japanese occupation. He even was imprisoned while working at a newspaper after erasing the Japanese flag from the uniform of Korean marathoner Sohn Kee-chung, who won gold at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Games.

A Lucky Day (which can be read here) is set during the Japanese occupation of Korea and follows a rickshaw puller named Kim, who is struggling to make a living for his sick wife, himself, and his baby. On the day the story takes place, Kim is fortunate enough to have an unusually profitable day, earning more money than he typically would. However, his sense of joy is marred by the knowledge that his wife is gravely ill.

Throughout the day, Kim is torn between the excitement of his unexpected earnings and his concern for his wife. He drinks to drown his worries, convincing himself that the money will help his wife recover. Tragically, when he returns home, he discovers that his wife has passed away while he was out working. 

Some things to think about:

• Knowing the full story, why do you think Hyun chose to name the story as he did?

• Notice the inherent violence (both verbal and physical) towards women in the story. Do you have sympathy and/or animosity for Kim in his circumstances?

• It’s been said that Kim is a metaphor for the Korean people at this time. How do you view this?

A Lucky Day was also the title of episode nine of the Netflix series, Squid Game.