New book traces fate of Seoul National University student missing for 44 years and a regional entrepreneur

A narrative nonfiction novel shedding light on the lives of a Seoul National University law student who disappeared and a regional business figure, set against the turbulent backdrop of 1980s Korean history, has been published.

Publisher BOOKM recently released "Ssijugurihan Naleui Jeungbal" (a novel of disappearance on a bleak day), written by Choi Dae-eok, Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province bureau chief at The Asia Business Daily.

The work weaves together two parallel narratives: that of Noh Jin-su, a Seoul National University law student who vanished in 1982 while yearning for democratization, and the late Jang Su-hong, former chairman of the Cheonggu Group, whose business empire collapsed amid shifting political winds.

Though the two men walked different paths, the book uses their stories to illuminate the hidden contours of modern Korean history through the wounds each suffered in the era's upheaval.

The novel centers on Noh's disappearance and traces the circumstances of the time. Choi reconstructed events drawing on primary sources including investigation materials from a presidential commission on suspicious deaths and state agency documents, adding some mystery elements to heighten narrative tension.

The sections on former Chairman Jang, by contrast, draw on interviews Choi conducted with him in person for years before his death. The book captures the political and economic pressures Jang faced in running his business, his reflections as a regional entrepreneur, and his deep affection for the local community.

Transcripts of conversations Jang left behind, along with some recordings in his own voice, are being made public for the first time through this work.

"This book is not a story that seeks to judge the past, but a record that tries to remember forgotten lives," Choi said. "I hope readers will join me in confronting the traces of an era we have long turned away from."