Feminism Reboot in South Korea Reading Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 with Writer Cho Nam-joo

This event invites Cho Nam-joo, writer of the international bestselling novel Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982. The novel explores one woman’s psychological unraveling under the weight of pervasive misogyny. In a modest apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, millennial “everywoman” Kim Jiyoung spends her days caring for her infant daughter. However, unsettling symptoms emerge: Jiyoung starts channeling the voices of other women, both living and deceased. As her condition worsens, her worried husband arranges for her to see a psychiatrist. During her sessions, Jiyoung recounts her life story—from being born to parents who had hoped for a son, to enduring strict dress codes imposed by elementary school teachers, to dealing with male coworkers who planted hidden cameras in women’s restrooms. But will the psychiatrist be able to cure her—or even uncover the root cause of her suffering? The author will be in conversation with Dr. Irhe Sohn (East Asian Languages and Cultures).