Playwright known for Dongseung and Sanheoguri; went north after liberation; his late-colonial plays are assessed controversially
| Life | 1915 ~ 1950 |
| Era | 일제강점기~한국전쟁 |
| Clan | 강릉 함씨 |
Ham Se-deok (咸世德, 1915-1950) was a playwright classed as Gangneung Ham in Wikipedia's categories; the article text does not state his seat, so please confirm with the clan. He was born on 23 May 1915 in Ganghwa and grew up in Mokpo, South Jeolla and Incheon. After studying under Yu Chi-jin he debuted in 1936 with the one-act play Sanheoguri in Joseon Munhak.
In 1939 his Dongseung was staged at the second Dong-A Ilbo drama festival and won an award, and in 1940 his Haeyeon was shortlisted in the Chosun Ilbo spring literary contest. Dongseung (originally Donyeom) is his best-known work and was made into a film. In 1941-42 he published plays such as Heuk-gyeong-jeong, Emille Bell, Nampung, Hwanghae and Baegya with the Hyundae Theatre led by Yu Chi-jin.
After liberation he organized the Nakrang Theater Company and joined leftist theater groups, writing plays such as Sanjeok, March 1st 1919 (Gimi-nyeon 3-wol 1-il), Taebaek Mountains and Gomok, and published the collection Dongseung in 1947. He went north before the Korean War, published The Mountain People (1949) and the satire The So-called President (1950), and is said to have entered Seoul as a People's Army war-correspondent writer and died in an accident on 29 June 1950. Wikipedia says that in the Emille Bell he portrayed Japan favorably and Hwanghae promoted the volunteer-soldier system, and that he was named on a 2002 list of pro-Japanese literary figures and the 2008 list of those slated for the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators. Because opinions differ and no official government judgment was confirmed here, no separate label is attached.
Dongseung won a drama-festival award when staged in 1939; its protagonist is a young novice monk named Donyeom. It was highly regarded and made into a film.
Because of the character of his late-colonial works and his move north after liberation, research was long limited, and reappraisal came only after the ban on writers who went north was lifted. The literary value of the work and the question of wartime cooperation should be considered separately.
His grave was not confirmed.
No information on descendants was confirmed.