Director Kim Young-tak's Second Novel, SF Dystopia 'Young-soo and 0-so' Published

The second full-length novel by film director and writer Kim Young-tak, 「Young-soo and 0-so」, has been published. Following his first full-length novel 「Gomtang」, which thrilled 500,000 readers, Kim Young-tak's new work 「Young-soo and 0-so」 is a long piece that prominently features the motifs of 'cloned humans' and 'memory sales', possessing intriguing settings and strong immersion akin to his previous work that opened a new horizon in Korean SF literature. As evidenced by his awards at prestigious film festivals for 〈Hello Ghost〉(2011) and 〈Slow Video〉(2015), Kim Young-tak delivers a story that, while sometimes evoking laughter and at other times tears, cannot escape the questions about the essence of humanity and life, woven together in an emotionally and intellectually compelling narrative.

The future era in which 「Young-soo and 0-so」 unfolds has seen artificial intelligence completely transform human labor, residence, and relationship structures. In this dystopian world where the joy of life has been universally minimized to the extent that suicide must be strictly controlled at the government level, four characters, including 'Young-soo' and '0-so', embark on a journey together. Although they all wear identical protective suits due to a virus, these individuals, each with different life stories and personalities, travel together for about two months in search of 'the memories they sold away', which may save them for different reasons. This bizarre journey takes the form of a full-fledged mystery, gradually approaching a secret-laden incident. While ultimately questioning the meaning of human existence, it maintains a sense of tension and humor, emerging as another piece of SF literature that our era will remember.

As the line goes, "I want to commit suicide, but to think that someone like me was even cloned and you were born again, I feel so sorry for you," this work deeply explores the meaning of human existence and the value of life while not losing humor and emotion. Novelist Cheon Seon-ran commented in her recommendation, "The novel, composed of three-dimensional characters and high-tension events, is thrilling and frightening in that once you start reading, you must see it through to the end, and this novel is just that." Film director Han Jun-hee also recommended it in his foreword, saying, "What surprised me the most was the vitality of the two characters. The author makes the everyday moments we easily overlook special through these two characters. I hope you feel the resonance that the meeting of these two beings brings."