[INTERVIEW] Thriller master Jeong You-jeong trades terror for tenderness in 'Bonobo'

Novelist Jeong You-jeong discussed her novel Bonobo in an interview in Seongsu-dong, eastern Seoul, on Thursday, as its English translation was published in Britain this month. The 2019 novel follows primatologist Jini, whose consciousness enters a bonobo after a car crash, and explores empathy, solidarity and choices in the face of death. Jeong said the story required a mature female protagonist and a bonobo, whose female-centered society suited its themes. She hopes the book encourages readers to love and live fiercely.

Brother Anthony, also known as An Seon-jae, translated Bonobo, published by Honford Star.

Jeong said she visited primate research facilities in Japan, including Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute, after ecologist Choe Jae-chun arranged the visits.

Jeong said her books have sold more than 2 million copies in Korea and been translated into more than 20 countries.

A book talk with Jeong is scheduled for Nov. 7 at the dbBOOKS warehouse in Seoul, with Korean discussion and English interpretation.

Jeong said she generally lets translators render her work as they see fit, intervening when they ask her to clarify meaning.

Published Oct 23, 2026 4:09 pm KST

Novelist to meet English-language readers at book talk on Nov. 7

Novelist Jeong You-jeong / Courtesy of Hong Jin-whan

Korean novelist Jeong You-jeong has carried the nickname "Stephen King of Korea" for more than a decade, thanks to her psychological thrillers that probe the darkest corners of human nature.

But when the novelist, who was wearing a bright yellow cardigan and an even brighter smile, arrived for an interview in eastern Seoul's Seongsu-dong on Thursday, she looked nothing like the writer behind some of the country's most unsettling bestsellers.

The cheerfulness, Jeong explained with a laugh, comes from long stretches of solitude. Once she begins a novel, she rarely leaves home, so the rare occasions that bring her out into the world tend to leave her in high spirits and full of things to say.

"Once I start writing a book, I'm the type who holes up at home and never goes out," she said. "I'm alone all day for a year or two, so whenever I do come out, I can't stop talking."

The cover of the U.K. edition of “Bonobo,” Jeong You-jeong’s novel translated by Brother Anthony / Courtesy of Honford Star

This time, the occasion was "Bonobo," the English translation of her 2019 novel, published in Britain by Honford Star this month. Translated by Brother Anthony, also known by his Korean name An Seon-jae, it is the first of her non-thriller novels to reach English-language readers, following "The Good Son," "Seven Years of Darkness" and "Perfect Happiness."

A former nurse, Jeong's breakthrough came with the release of her 2011 novel "Seven Years of Darkness," a thriller about a fatal accident and a father's revenge and was later adapted into a film in 2018. Together with "28" (2013) and "The Good Son" (2016), which in 2018 became her first novel published in English, it forms what Korean readers call her "trilogy of evil."

Her books, including "Shoot Me in the Heart" and her latest "Eternal Heaven" (2024), have sold more than 2 million copies in Korea and have been published in translation in more than 20 countries.

In "Bonobo," primatologist Jini, who has never forgiven herself for once failing to free a baby bonobo bound for the black market, joins a late-night rescue of a bonobo that has escaped. On the way back to the research center, a car crash throws her consciousness into the frightened animal, named Jinny, while her own body lies in a hospital between life and death.

With the help of Minjoo, a young drifter cast out by his family, she sets out to reclaim her body, drawn into Jinny's memories of joy, community and the cruelty of animal trafficking, and the story becomes a question of what one chooses when faced with death.

Bonobos live in female-centered groups known for empathy and cooperation. gettyimagesbank

"Bonobo" is also Jeong's first novel to put a woman fully at the center. She said she had long avoided female protagonists out of fear that, as a woman herself, her own personality would overwhelm the character, but this story left her no choice.

"This novel needed a woman. It truly couldn't have been written without a female protagonist," she said. "It needed empathy, solidarity, love and embrace, and above all, a mature woman."

The choice of animal was just as deliberate. To prepare, Jeong turned to renowned ecologist Choe Jae-chun, who arranged for her to visit primate research facilities in Japan, including the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University, where she met primatologists and observed chimpanzees and bonobos up close.

What struck her most was how differently the two species live. Chimpanzee society is male-centered, while bonobos live in a female-centered society known for its remarkable capacity for empathy and solidarity. Jeong recalled Choe telling her a story that shaped an important decision for the novel.

"Put an apple tree in front of chimpanzees, and they'll fight like crazy to claim it, and the one that wins climbs up and eats everything," she said. "But when bonobos get to the tree, they first share affection with one another, all hugging and kissing, and then they all climb up and share the fruit."

"So of course this novel had to be about a bonobo," she said. "A chimpanzee's temperament just wouldn't fit."

Trust in translation

When it comes to translators, Jeong keeps her distance. She said she rarely weighs in on how her work is rendered into other languages and did not exchange much with Brother Anthony during the process.

"My approach with translators is that unless they need to ask me, 'What on earth does this mean?', they should go ahead and do it their way," she said. "If I knew the language well, I might say this should go like this and that like that, but since I don't, I just trust them to take care of it."

The questions she does receive from translators, she said, are almost always about her humor, which runs far deeper in her coming-of-age novels than in her thrillers. Brother Anthony never asked.

"If I wrote something silly and he never asked, it must have landed with him," she said with a laugh.

Brother Anthony, also known by his Korean name An Seon-jae, a professor emeritus at Sogang University who translated Jeong You-jeong's “Bonobo"/ Korea Times photo by Lim Eun-jae

At the heart of "Bonobo," Jeong said, is an attitude toward life. "If a reader said that this book made him/her look back on how to approach life, and encouraged them to live more fiercely, I would be thrilled," she said. "I wrote this novel to talk about our attitude toward life."

She said young people today too often hold back, even in love, because they are hindered by fear. But she advised them to set those worries aside during their youth.

"I really want young people to love and live fiercely, with everything they have," she said. "Once you're past your 20s and 30s and into your 40s, you can't do that anymore."

A poster for novelist Jeong You-jeong’s book talk on Nov. 7 at the dbBOOKS warehouse, Seongdong District, Seoul / Captured from dbBOOKS’ Instagram

Jeong will carry that message to readers in person at a book talk scheduled to take place at the dbBOOKS warehouse in Seoul on Nov. 7. The book talk will be part of the English-language book distributor's fall warehouse sale.

The talk will be moderated by Sean Lin Halbert, who translated "Perfect Happiness," and conducted in Korean with English interpretation.

Jeong said she is excited to meet international readers on home soil, many of whom she expects would understand some Korean and know the culture well. And to those who will be seeing her work for the first time in English, she offered a parting thought.

"We all die. The train of death is out there in the fog right now. You can hear it chugging, but you can't tell where it is," she said. "The moment it pulls into the platform, we have no other choice but to board."

"Until it arrives, I hope we all love one another fiercely and live with everything we have."

[K-LIT REVIEW] 'Bonobo' asks who is the noble beast?

小说家郑有贞周四在首尔东部圣水洞接受采访，谈及她的小说《倭黑猩猩》。该书英文版本月在英国出版。这部2019年出版的小说讲述了灵长类动物学家吉妮在车祸后意识进入一只倭黑猩猩体内的故事，探讨了面对死亡时的同理心、团结和抉择。郑有贞表示，故事需要一位成熟的女性主人公和一只倭黑猩猩，而倭黑猩猩以雌性为中心的社会结构也契合了小说的主题。她希望这本书能鼓励读者勇敢地去爱，勇敢地生活。

安东尼兄弟（又名安善宰）翻译了《倭黑猩猩》，由洪福德之星出版。

郑女士表示，在生态学家崔在春的安排下，她参观了日本的灵长类动物研究机构，其中包括京都大学灵长类动物研究所。

郑女士表示，她的书在韩国已售出超过200万册，并被翻译成20多个国家。

郑先生将于 11 月 7 日在首尔 dbBOOKS 仓库举行新书见面会，届时将进行韩语讨论并提供英语翻译。

郑女士表示，她通常让译者按照他们认为合适的方式翻译她的作品，只有在译者要求她澄清含义时才会进行干预。

发布于2026年10月23日下午4:09（韩国标准时间）

小说家将于11月7日与英语读者见面交流。

小说家郑有贞 / 图片由洪进焕提供

韩国小说家郑有贞凭借其心理惊悚小说，深入探讨人性最黑暗的角落，十多年来一直享有“韩国斯蒂芬·金”的美誉。

但周四，当这位小说家身穿亮黄色开衫，笑容灿烂地来到首尔东部的圣水洞接受采访时，她看起来完全不像是一位创作了韩国一些最令人不安的畅销书的作家。

郑笑着解释说，她的快乐源于长时间的独处。一旦开始写小说，她就很少出门，所以难得的几次外出活动往往会让她心情愉悦，并且有很多话想说。

“一旦开始写书，我就会把自己关在家里，从不出门，”她说。“我会独自待上一两年，所以一旦我出来，就停不下来地说话。”

郑有贞小说《倭黑猩猩》英国版封面，由安东尼兄弟翻译 / 图片由Honford Star提供

这次的契机是她2019年小说《倭黑猩猩》（Bonobo）的英文译本，该书由英国Honford Star出版社于本月出版。译者是Brother Anthony，他的韩文名字是安善宰（An Seon-jae）。这是继《好儿子》（The Good Son）、《七年黑暗》（Seven Years of Darkness）和《完美幸福》（Perfect Happiness）之后，她第一部以非惊悚小说形式与英语读者见面的作品。

郑恩熙曾是一名护士，她的突破之作是2011年出版的小说《七年之痒》，这是一部关于致命事故和父亲复仇的惊悚小说，后来于2018年被改编成电影。这部小说与《28》（2013）和《好儿子》（2016）一起，构成了韩国读者所称的她的“邪恶三部曲”。《好儿子》于2018年出版，是她第一部被翻译成英文的小说。

她的作品，包括《射中我的心》和最新作品《永恒的天堂》（2024年出版），在韩国的销量超过200万册，并被翻译成20多种语言出版。

在《倭黑猩猩》中，灵长类动物学家吉妮始终无法原谅自己曾经未能解救一只即将被卖到黑市的幼年倭黑猩猩。一天深夜，她参与了一场营救行动，营救一只逃脱的倭黑猩猩。在返回研究中心的途中，一场车祸将她的意识转移到了这只名叫吉妮的受惊动物身上，而她自己的身体则在医院里徘徊于生死边缘。

在被家人抛弃的年轻流浪汉敏珠的帮助下，她踏上了找回自己身体的旅程，逐渐被金妮关于快乐、社群和动物贩卖的残酷记忆所吸引，故事也由此变成了一个关于面对死亡时人们会做出什么选择的问题。

倭黑猩猩生活在以雌性为主的群体中，这些群体以其同理心和合作精神而闻名。（图片来自gettyimagesbank）

《倭黑猩猩》也是郑恩熙第一部以女性为绝对主角的小说。她曾表示，自己长期以来一直避免以女性为主角，因为她担心自己作为女性的身份会让她自身的个性盖过角色，但这部作品让她别无选择。

“这部小说需要一个女性角色。如果没有女性主人公，它根本写不出来，”她说。“它需要同情、团结、爱和包容，最重要的是，需要一个成熟的女性。”

动物的选择也是经过深思熟虑的。为了做好准备，郑女士求助于著名生态学家崔在春，崔在春安排她参观了日本的灵长类动物研究机构，包括京都大学灵长类动物研究所。在那里，她会见了灵长类动物学家，并近距离观察了黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩。

最令她印象深刻的是这两个物种截然不同的生活方式。黑猩猩社会以雄性为中心，而倭黑猩猩则生活在以雌性为中心的社会中，并以其卓越的同理心和团结精神而闻名。郑回忆起崔曾给她讲过一个故事，这个故事影响了她创作这部小说的一个重要决定。

“如果把一棵苹果树放在黑猩猩面前，它们会为了争夺树冠而疯狂打斗，赢的那只就会爬上去把果子全部吃光，”她说。“但是，当倭黑猩猩爬到树上时，它们会先互相表达爱意，拥抱亲吻，然后一起爬上去分享果实。”

“所以，这部小说当然要以倭黑猩猩为主角，”她说。“黑猩猩的性情根本不符合这个设定。”

翻译中的信任

谈到译者，郑女士始终保持距离。她说，她很少干涉自己的作品被翻译成其他语言的方式，在这个过程中也没有和安东尼修士进行太多交流。

“我对翻译人员的态度是，除非他们需要问我‘这到底是什么意思？’，否则就让他们按自己的方式来做，”她说。“如果我精通这门语言，我可能会说这部分应该这样翻译，那部分应该那样翻译，但既然我不精通，我就相信他们能处理好。”

她说，译者向她提出的问题几乎总是关于她的幽默感，这种幽默感在她的成长小说中比在她的惊悚小说中更加深刻。安东尼哥哥从未问过这个问题。

“如果我写了什么傻话，而他又没问，那肯定是他看到了，”她笑着说。

安东尼修士，又名安善宰（韩文名），是西江大学名誉教授，曾翻译郑有贞的《倭黑猩猩》/《韩国时报》林恩宰摄

郑女士说，《倭黑猩猩》的核心是一种人生态度。“如果读者说这本书让他们反思自己的人生观，并鼓励他们更加勇敢地生活，我会非常高兴，”她说。“我写这部小说就是为了探讨我们的人生态度。”

她说，现在的年轻人常常因为恐惧而退缩，即使在爱情中也是如此。但她建议他们在年轻的时候就应该放下这些顾虑。

“我真心希望年轻人能够尽情地去爱，去生活，用尽所有，”她说。“一旦你过了二三十岁，进入四五十岁，你就再也做不到这一点了。”

小说家郑有贞11月7日在首尔城东区dbBOOKS仓库举办新书发布会的宣传海报 / 图片来自dbBOOKS的Instagram账号

郑先生将于 11 月 7 日在首尔 dbBOOKS 仓库举行的读书会上亲自向读者传达这一信息。此次读书会是这家英文图书经销商秋季仓库促销活动的一部分。

本次讲座将由《完美幸福》的译者肖恩·林·哈尔伯特主持，并以韩语进行，配有英语翻译。

郑女士表示，她非常期待在韩国本土与国际读者见面，她相信其中许多人都能理解一些韩语，并且对韩国文化有所了解。最后，她也向那些将首次接触她作品英文版的读者们表达了临别赠言。

“我们都会死。死亡列车现在就在雾里。你能听到它突突的声音，但你不知道它在哪里，”她说。“它一进站台，我们就别无选择，只能上车。”

“在那一天到来之前，我希望我们都能彼此深爱，珍惜我们所拥有的一切。”

【K-LIT评论】《倭黑猩猩》提出疑问：谁才是高贵的野兽？