His works include the short story collection Shagarui maeure naerineun nun (샤갈의 마을에 내리는 눈 The Snow Falling on Chagall's Village) and the novels Hotel Kaeliponia (호텔 캘리포니아 Hotel California), Cheongchunui dongjjok (청춘의 동쪽 East of Youth), and Kkamaquitte geurimja (까마귀떼 그림자 Shadows Cast by a Murder of Crows).
In 1999 he received the 23rd Yi Sang Literary Award for his short story “Nae maeumui oktapbang” (내 마음의 옥탑방 The Attic of My Heart).
[1] Park Sangwoo was born in Gwangju, South Korea in 1958 and grew up in the city of Pocheon.
His family moved to Myeongju County in 1966 when his father, a professional soldier, retired from service.
He graduated Chuncheon High School in 1974 and received a degree in creative writing at Chung-Ang University in 1981.
[2] Park Sangwoo's early work, including his debut novella Seureojiji anneun bit (스러지지 않는 빛 A Light That Doesn't Fade Out), explored the destruction of the individual by a violent, institutional power.
[3] This change in Park's style coincides with the period of social upheaval in South Korea from the late 1980s to early 1990s, during which most of the country's writers felt a strong sense of disconnect with the transformed society.
[4] This shift is first seen in Satanui maeure naerineun bi (사탄의 마을에 내리는 비 Rain Falling on Satan's Village), Park's short story collection published in 2000.
The stories portray the lonely and demonic side of modern people who, driven mad by the monotony of their lives, destroy themselves and others.
An apocalyptic mood runs through the work, which calls reality “the village of Satan” or the tedious hell of anonymous and objectified souls.
나는 인간의 빙하기로 간다 (1993) I Leave for the Ice Age of Humans (1993) 33.