Bitterness of the Inner Quarters

Na Hye-seok (1896 – 1948) was a poet, feminist writer, painter, educator, and journalist. Born in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, as the fourth child of a wealthy family, she demonstrated an artistic talent from an early age and graduated at the top of her class from Jin Myeong Girl's High School in 1913. She went on to study western painting at Tokyo Women's Art College in Japan, which was an unheard of accomplishment for a Korean woman at the time. She became the first female professional painter and the first feminist writer in Korea, and later made waves for a rumored extramarital affair and her subsequent divorce. Her major written work, “Gyeong-hui” (1918), explores the theme of sinyeoseong, or “new woman,” and is regarded as the first feminist short story in Korean literature. She is also well known for her essay, “A Divorce Confession,” which was published in a magazine in 1934.