He later moved to Seoul in what is today South Korea and made his debut in 1939 with The Demon Man, published in The Chosun Ilbo.
An unparalleled mystery fiction writer in colonial Korea, he was praised for his meticulously designed narratives and foreshadowing.
At the age of 13, he married a woman five years his senior against his wishes, following an old custom in Korea at the time.
One of the ways for him to escape the pressures of his marriage at such a young age was to read novels, especially detective stories.
His first work in Korean was Gasang beomin (가상범인 A Hypothetical Culprit), which was a translation and adaptation of a story he published in a Japanese detective fiction magazine.
He then published “Sarin yesulga” (살인예술가 An Artistic Murderer), which was a translated adaptation of “Tawonhyeongui geoul” (타원형의 거울 An Oval Mirror) published during his study abroad in Japan, and “Yeonmungidam” (연문기담 A Strange Story from Yeonmun), which drew great public attention.
He continued to write as well, publishing Cheongchun geuknjang and Insaeng hwabo (인생화보 Pictorial Life), and also working as a radio script writer.
He fell ill while writing Silnagwonui byeol (실낙원의 별 Star of Paradise Lost) and died from cerebral hemorrhage in 1957 without finishing the novel.
In fact, Kim was said to have visited Edogawa Ranpo’s house during his study abroad in Japan, and they kept in touch via letters after Korea’s liberation from the Japanese rule.
[6] Kim accepted Edogawa Ranpo’s position that detective novels should also be artistic and wrote “Siyuri” (시유리 Dead Yuri) and “Baeksado” (백사도 Painting of a White Snake), stories that veered away from the typical detective story formula and were praised for their artistry and literary value.
In a literary criticism piece “Daejungmunhakgwa sunsumunhak-haengbokhan sosujawa bulhaenghan dasuja” (1948, 대중문학과 순수문학-행복한 소수자와 불행한 다수자 Popular Literature and Pure Literature-Happy Minority and Unhappy Majority), he emphasized that literature should guard against falling into conventionality but also should not give up on being read by the public.
This is why he started off as a mystery novelist and made efforts to expand his creative world by attempting at different genres, including popular fiction and children’s radio series.
With the conviction to be “read by more readers,” Kim wrote stories on a big scale but reflected the experiences of his own and the people around him in detail, which allowed him to attract popular interest and make his fiction more persuasive.
During his creative writing career, Kim adapted a number of popular foreign novels and published them.
In particular, Jinjutap, which was an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, was serialized and regularly aired on Tuesday evenings, becoming a huge hit.
<마심 불심>, 에밀 가보리오 저, 안회남 역 《고전추리걸작: 르루주 사건》, 페이퍼하우스, 2011 / “Masim bulsim” (Heart of the Devil, Heart of Buddha), written by Emile Gaboriau, translated by An Hoe-nam Kojeon churi geoljak: Reuruju sageon (고전추리걸작: 르루주 사건 Classic Mystery Masterpiece: L’Affaire Lerouge), PaperHouse, 2011.