Kim Jeon-han graduated from the Department of Philosophy in Keimyung University in 1990. He won a prize from the Korean Film Council in 1991 and won a prize in the poetry section of the Spring Literary Contest hosted by the Mun-Hwa Daily News in 1993. He has published Bong-ja and Therefore, She Married Fake Bea Chul-soo. He is the screenplay writer of the movies Bong-ja, Green chair, and Driving with My Wife's Lover. He also has played roles in movies and has written film scripts. Let's meet him.


Q. You are an actor, writer, playwright, and movie director. Which one is your real job?
I just want to be called a writer and movie director. I can play a role sometimes, or I can use my novel as a film script and can be a movie director with the film script. In the case of the movie Castle of the Moon, which was my debut in the movie world last July, I actually wrote it as a story.

Q. How did you start to do these various genres?
When I was in my twenties, I dreamt of being both a moral teacher and a poet. Unfortunately, my grade was not enough to go through the teacher training course. Therefore, I started to write poems for a living. That was my beginning as a screenwriter.

Q. You appeared in a TV program, Human Theater, as a house keeping man. What is your opinion about husbands who keep house?
The reason why I started to keep the house is that I didn't have a job, not because I am a feminist. From the beginning, I was poor. Therefore, I had to depend on my wife. I thought keeping the house would be reasonable. When I give a lecture to university students, I teach them how to survive as a writer rather than how to write in my lectures. In the beginning, a writer has financial difficulties, so I tell students who want to be writers to think about house keeping if they are married.

Q. Please tell us about your campus life.
I gave up high school halfway through the 70s and lived as a libertine for several years. The Department of Philosophy in Keimyung University held "Thursday Evening Philosophy Seminars" every Thursday. One day, I just went there out of curiosity. It was really interesting. After that, I attended the seminar every Thursday. Then, I took the qualification examination for college entrance and started studying philosophy in Keimyung University. After I entered the University, I also started to write poems. Every time I wrote poems, I went to Professor Lee Sung-bok and showed my poems.

Q. What is your best choice in your whole life? What is the reason?
If I hadn’t attended "Thursday Evening Philosophy Seminar," I might have been a hooligan. I still don't know what made me go there. Think how ridiculous it is that a young man who got only halfway through high school and was a libertine went to university. I was so ashamed when I attended the seminar at first. Nevertheless, the first try changed my life entirely.

Q. Could you please give some advice to Keimyung University students?
I hope students are not afraid of being against the rules. Most people just follow routine life patterns. If you have your own life style, your life can be successful regardless of the result.

Q. If you were giving your life marks, what grade would you give it?
We can grade our lives in many ways. The grades are kind of measurements which indicate success. We all live a stressful life and are evaluated by people with grades. Grading my life? Whatever it is, I don't care!


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