The Dystopian Discourse of "Success but a Failure" Between Science and Ethics in the Korean Science Story "Dr. K's Research"

Dong-in Kim's short story "Dr. K's Research" provides the first example of Korean science fiction literature. It is also considered as an important scientific story because it gives the first try of exploring what kind of relationship should be constructed between science and ethical concern in Korean literary world. As the story about Dr. K's experiment of inventing artificial food made from feces unfolded, Dr. K's blindness of science in recognition, his deviation of the action in science, and his inability to comprehend the complexity between science and ethics are shown in a flashback step by step. Through describing Dr. K's experimental process from "success to failure" with a strong ironic and dystopian meta-narrative style, the writer emphasizes that scientifically Dr. K's experiment is successful, yet the consequence of the research is an ethical failure in comprehension of the relationship between science and ethical application. The significance of Dong-in Kim's story is to set the example of fathoming the possibilities of the relationship between science and ethics in a contemporary world, and to examine what the impact of science and technology might have on the understanding of ethical discussion.