From Bourne to le Carré: Jinwoo Park on The Oxford Soju Club

In this episode of Spybrary, host Matthew Hurst talks with author Jinwoo Park about his debut novel, The Oxford Soju Club.

The book centres on North Korean spies and their Korean American adversaries, who are regulars at an Oxford restaurant run by an oblivious South Korean. It's as much about the psychology of their ethnic identities as shoot outs and chases.

Jinwoo discusses how the book developed from a simple action thriller to drawing out parallels of how deep cover spies and immigrants share a need to to mould themselves to their surroundings.

The conversation explores Jinwoo's influences, from the Bourne films and Robert Ludlum to John le Carré and The Sympathizer, to conversations with his uncle — a former deputy director in South Korea's National Intelligence Service. It also explains why spies should never be rude to taxi drivers.

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