Shin Kyung-sook, an award-winning South Korean writer, has admitted that she may have plagiarized the work of a Nobel Prize nominated Japanese author in one of her early works released in 1997.

Ms Shin revealed to the Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper during an interview that after reviewing her story titled Legend, and comparing it to Yukio Mishima's story titled Patriotism, she is not sure whether she had not been influenced by the work.  

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When South Korean poet Lee Eung-jun accused Ms. Shin of plagiarizing Yukio Mishima last week, the 52-year-old had responded by saying that she hadn't read the Japanese author's works. However, during the recent interview, Ms. Shin noted that she cannot trust her memory.

Ms. Shin's Legend story appeared in a compilation of short stories titled Potato Eaters, which was published in 1997. In light of this controversy, the Wall Street Journal has reported that Ms. Shin's publishers - Changbi Publishers Inc. - have decided to withdraw the book from circulation. She has reportedly instructed the publishers to remove the Legend story from the book before the collection is put out again. Changbi Publishers Inc. has also released a statement saying that the accusations of plagiarism against Ms. Shin should have been addressed earlier.

This is not the first time that Ms. Shin has been accused of plagiarism, but she has never commented on the issue until now.

Recently, a local professor filed a complaint with prosecutors to investigate plagiarism in Ms. Shin's works, particularly Legend and Please Look After Mom. Also, Yonhap News Agency has accused Ms. Shin of stealing the titles of two of her stories - Footprints of Heavy Bird and Away on the Endless Road - from another South Korean poet.

The plagiarism accusations directly at Ms. Shin have made international headlines because she is arguably South Korea's most popular writer internationally. Her book Please Look After Mom has been translated to about 19 languages and made her the first South Korean and the first Korean female to win the coveted Asian Literary Prize.

TagsShin Kyung-sook, Changbi Publishers Inc, Shin Kyung-sook plagiarism, South Korea plagiarism