INTERVIEW Former chief of Statistics Korea publishes first romance novel in 70s

Author Chung Jae-ryong served as the chief of Statistics Korea, the president of the Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) and the deputy minister of the finance ministry, among other positions, during his 30 year-long service as high-ranking economic bureaucrat. Courtesy of Chung Jae-ryong

Chung Jae-ryong, a former head of Statistics Korea, published his first full-length romantic novel titled "Dancing with Aurora" earlier this month. It's drawing significant media attention due to the novelist's unique background as a high-ranking economic bureaucrat, and because of his advanced age in making his debut as a romance novelist.

The 77-year-old Chung said the main reason he wrote the romantic novel is that he had long been hoping to deeply address and explore the issue of mature love and marriage in Korea. He believes the country is still lagging so much behind other developed countries in terms of dating and marriage culture.

"Korea achieved rapid economic development during the past decades, advancing from a developing country to a developed nation. However, the level of public consciousness and collective mindset doesn't seem to have kept pace with that progress, particularly, in the area of relationships between men and women," Chung said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

"While more than half of life is spent pondering the issues of relationships and love, Korean culture, on this particular issue, falls behind other countries. Through the novel, I hope to portray a more mature relationship between men and women," he said.

With such a goal in mind, the book recounts a love story of a couple experiencing multiple encounters and partings over the course of 40 years, with the backdrop spanning Korea, Japan, the U.S. and Europe. Chung's previous experiences of living in Denmark and the U.S. for many years, as an economic cooperation official and a student, respectively, contributed to the story's development.

He said his perspective on love and marriage widened during three years working in Northern Europe in his early 30s and two years studying in the U.S. in his 40s. Seeing many couples there leading their lives of love and marriage in an independent, respectful and rational way led him to hope for a growth in Korea's collective mindset and cultures surrounding gender and love relations.

The cover of Chung's "Dancing with Aurora" (literal translation from Korean to English)

"I retired at the age of 70 in 2015. That's when I first wrote my bucket list — a list of things I hope to do before dying. And writing a romantic novel delving into the theme of mature love came into my mind," Chung said.

However, writing a novel wasn't an easy task. It took him four years to complete the book.

There was a significant challenge while writing. In the early stages of organizing the plot, Chung was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, which developed into cancer one and a half years later.

Facing the harsh reality that it might be his posthumous work, he devoted himself more to writing. He was able to publish the book four years after he first started the project.

He said he's now happy to see favorable responses to his book.

"At first, I was thinking of publishing the book on my own to share with my friends. But unexpectedly, it turned out pretty well in the media and the book market, with positive responses," Chung said.

Now he dreams another dream. He plans to publish the novel in the Japanese market.

"Japanese novels occupy a significant portion of the Korean bestseller lists. As the two countries share similar sentiments, I would like to challenge the Japanese book market by publishing my book there," Chung said.

His novel was published under the pen name of Chung Da-kyung, meaning "one who cultivates a tea field." The alias was given by a calligraphy mentor, aiming to bless Chung with serenity after retiring from the busy life of an economic bureaucrat.

Born in 1946, Chung studied law at Seoul National University and became a civil servant at the age of 25, after passing the national civil service exam. He held various key positions, including the deputy minister at the finance ministry, head of Statistics Korea, president of the Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) and a professor at Sangmyung University.

He has also been awarded the Order of Service Merit for his excellent public service. His previous books were "Management of Non-Performing Loans" and "International Standardization of Non-Performing Loan Resolution Systems."