Kim Ji-young, Born 1982


Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 is a fiction novel by Cho Nam-joo. A former scriptwriter for TV programs, Cho took two months to write the story as according to her, the title character "Kim Ji-young's life isn't much different from the one I have lived. That's why I was able to write so quickly without much preparation." Published by Minumsa in October 2016, it has sold more than 1 million copies as of 27 November 2018, becoming the first million-selling Korean novel since Shin Kyung-sook's Please Look After Mom in 2009.

Plot

The story-line centres on a housewife who becomes a stay-at-home mother and later suffers from depression. It focuses on the everyday sexism the title character experiences from youth.

Reception

The book gained attention in early 2017 after readers posted reviews of the book on social media. In May 2018, after the floor leader of the Justice Party's Roh Hoe-chan gifted the book to President Moon Jae-in with a message that read "Please embrace 'Kim Ji-young Born '82'", the book's sales shot up. It has sold more than 1 million copies as of November 2018.

Film adaptation

The book was adapted into a film with Jung Yu-mi and Gong Yoo taking the lead roles. The shooting took place in early 2019 and it was released on October 23 of the same year.
The book was hailed by some as one of the most important feminist novels in Korean - but led to an outcry from anti-feminists in the country. And now, with the film's release, those arguments are being revisited.