Your Republic Is Calling You
Your Republic Is Calling You is a Korean novel by Kim Young-ha, inspired by René Magritte’s Empire of Light. It tells the story of a North Korean spy, Kim Gi-yeong (also known as Kim Seong-hun in North Korea), who is sent to South Korea in his early 20s to blend in, infiltrate student movements, and then vanish. After years living as a normal South Korean citizen, he receives an email telling him to erase all traces of his life in the South and return to the North within 24 hours. The book follows the frantic 24 hours that follow as he tries to survive and understand what has happened.
The novel uses this urgent premise to explore Korea’s changes from the 1980s to the 2000s. It shows how, in the 1980s, South Korea resembled North Korea in its emphasis on the group and the party, while by the 2000s the country had become a consumer-driven, capitalist society. Gi-yeong, who has lived in both worlds, highlights how life can suddenly feel out of control. The story suggests that fate often governs us more than we can control, and it emphasizes the unpredictability of the future.
The style is fragmented and episodic, like a modern Greek tragedy. It blends dark humor, cynicism, and self-parody of a chase scene with sharp reflections, creating a post-ideological mood where ideology has mostly faded but not disappeared. Kim Young-ha has said the book isn’t about delivering a single message; instead, it challenges the idea that a clear message is always possible.
In 2016, Bichui jeguk was adapted into a stage play by the National Theater of Korea and the Centre Dramatique National Orléans. The production was staged in Korea and France with English and French subtitles, featuring French directors and designers and marking a notable return to theater for actor Moon So-ri. The novel has been translated into several languages and won the Manhae Prize for Literature in 2007.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:28 (CET).