Kim Chang-wan, an ‘adult of the times’ who communicates with the public in many fields as a singer, painter, writer, actor, and radio DJ, decorated the pictorial for the magazine ‘Elle’.

This pictorial was themed around ‘hope’ and captured Kim Chang-wan’s signature flower-like energy.

The revised and expanded edition of his first prose collection, published in 1995, titled “Now I Can See It,” was republished last month with eight new essays and 20 illustrations after 30 years.Kim Chang-wan said, “If the book had been read as a boring story from 30 years ago, I would have immediately refused to republish it, but I was surprised myself.The episodes in every corner seemed new.I think readers get a glimpse of my youth in the book.Since it contains memories, wanderings, and frustrations from my younger days, young people might have noticed those feelings.They might think, ‘Look! That old man had a time like that, too.’” and laughed.

He recently talked about hope through his art exhibition, “Now I Can See It,” and when asked if there are new things about hope these days, he said, “I reflected on whether hope is not a method that has been instilled and a trained concept.Like ‘light,’ ‘sprouts,’ or ‘flowers.’ Is that what the real hope we know is like? Can you see hope? Does it bloom and disappear like a flower? Isn’t it something that can be seen even in the dark? You can have hope even in broad daylight, and the hope you had in the past and the hope you have now may seem different.However, because it is a much freer and broader world, the size of hope itself is great and large.However, people seem a bit discouraged these days.Maybe it is because we have not tried to find hope.”

Regarding the memorable things from his 48th debut anniversary journey, he said, “It’s definitely the people I met through the radio.When I host a radio show, I get to see how people live up close, and although it’s true that the walls between people have gotten thicker these days, I still see a lot of stories of neighbors helping each other, whether they know it or not.No matter how harsh the world has become, I think it’s because humans have evolved to lean on each other and live.”

When asked how he hopes people will read ‘Now I Can See’, he said, “I hope it will be a time to stop and look at yourself rather than just following my writing.It’s not important to say that Kim Chang-wan lived like this or had these thoughts.I want to tell people to look at how they look now and stand in front of a mirror through my writing.”

Kim Chang-wan’s pictorial and interview can be found in the May issue of Elle and on the Elle website.

Reporter Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com jhj@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.