Heartless

"Mujeong" is a full-length novel by Yi Kwang-su, serialized in the Maeil Shinbo in 1917, and is regarded as the starting point of modern Korean literature. Lee Hyeong-sik, an English teacher at Gyeongseong School, becomes the private tutor for Seon-hyeong, the daughter of Elder Kim, who is about to study in the United States. However, around the same time, he re-encounters Park Yeong-chae, the daughter of a former benefactor. Between Yeong-chae, who remains loyal to Hyeong-sik even after becoming a gisaeng to save her imprisoned father, and Seon-hyeong, a modern woman with a new education, Hyeong-sik falls into a conflict of love and values. Amid the clash between feudal customs and free love, the old era and the new, Yeong-chae overcomes the brink of assault and suicide to move toward a new life. The characters, after their respective trials, reunite at the flood disaster site in Samrangjin and pledge to devote themselves to the enlightenment and education of the people. This novel, which depicts the awakening of young people striving to transcend the old world through free love, new education, and national consciousness, remains a portrait of an era transitioning from feudalism to modernity and a turning point in Korean literary history.