
Yi Cheong-jun
Writing
Biography
Yi Cheong-jun was a prominent South Korean novelist. Throughout his four decade-long career, Lee wrote more than 100 short stories and 13 novels. He died from lung cancer at the age of 68 on July 31, 2008.
Known For

Shin-ae moves to her recently late husband’s hometown. Despite her efforts to settle in this unfamiliar and too-normal place, she finds that she can’t fit in. After a sudden tragedy, Shin-ae turns to Christianity to relieve her pain, but when even this is not permitted, she wages a war against God.
Secret Sunshine

A drama centered on brother-and-sister musicians trained to perform the epic Korean poems known as pansori.
Beyond the Years

A company hopes to open a spa hotel named after Ieodo, a mythical island inhabited by the souls of drowned sailors. During a study trip to the proposed location of the hotel, a journalist disappears under mysterious circumstances. One of the contractors goes to Ieodo's neighboring island, populated by widows of the dead sailors, to unravel the mystery.
Ieoh Island

The 1930s. Wishing to pass down his knowledge, the father teaches his children to sing Pansori. The elder daughter and the younger son become professional singers but time has changed and people are no longer interested in folk singing. The younger boy gives up on his studies and runs away from home. Fearful that the daughter might do the same, the father blinds her. The blind girl continues to practice with great diligence and achieves perfection in this art. Years pass, the brother is roaming the world in search of his sister and eventually finds her. All night long they sing together sharing their memories.
Sopyonje

A man suffers from mental illness after having lived with a mother suffering from dementia and a brother addicted to gambling. Now institutionalized, he falls in love with a nurse at the psychiatric hospital.
I Am Happy

Sang-hun, a painter, and Yeong-hun, a doctor, are brothers. Sang-hun's girlfriend left him for another man, and he draws her portrait everyday. Yeong-hun, the older of the two, makes a medical mistake, and his young patient dies. Because of the guilty conscience, he abandons the career as a doctor and devotes himself to writing a novel. However, the brothers have high self-esteem and finally overcome their weaknesses to make a fresh start.
Starting Point

While awaiting the publication of his fairytale about his dementia-stricken octogenarian mother, an acclaimed South Korean novelist receives news that she has passed away, so he leaves the city and returns to her village to take part in the funeral.
Festival

The villagers of a remote fishing village on the west coast of Korea have a belief that if someone drowns in the sea, his spirit cannot depart until the next person dies. The drowning of one fisherman sets in motion a series of tragic events.
Oyster Village

Yo-han is the son of a Christian minister. Following his father's career, he joins the seminary without much enthusiasm, then drops out. After doing his military service as a KATUSA, he teaches at the U.S. educational center. When he is given a job teaching in America, he hastily marries in preparation for the move. He is suddenly struck blind, then begins contemplating suicide. Instead he has a religious vision and dedicates himself to the ministry, and opens a church for the blind.