Novelist
| Life | 1943 |
| Era | 근현대(현대) |
| Clan | 함안 조씨 |
Jo Jeong-rae is a novelist from Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, who graduated from the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Dongguk University. Since his literary debut in 1970, he has become widely known for epic novels dealing with the upheavals of Korean modern and contemporary history.
His representative works are Taebaek Mountains (Taebaek Sanmaek), dealing with the Yeosu-Suncheon incident and the period around the Korean War; Arirang, depicting the nation's suffering during the Japanese colonial period; and The Han River (Hangang), dealing with the age of industrialization. These three works are regarded as a vast epic trilogy.
He has won the Hyundae Munhak Prize, the Dongni Prize, and others, and served as a chair professor at Dongguk University. His works are regarded as broadly illuminating the lives of the common people and the history of national division and modernization.