Theater maker Koo Jaha on Sept. 26 delivers his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony for the International Ibsen Award at the National Theatre in Oslo, Norway. (Yonhap News)

By Jeong Euiseok

Theater maker Koo Jaha has accepted the International Ibsen Award, the richest prize in global theater that is considered the "Nobel Prize" of the genre.

Koo on Sept. 26 received the honor and prize money of NOK 2.5 million (KRW 358 million) at the awards ceremony held at the National Theatre in Oslo. He is both the youngest and first Asian recipient of the accolade.

The Norwegian government in 2007 launched the award to honor its famed playwright Henrik Ibsen. The biennial honor is given on March 20, Ibsen's birthday, and presented in September during the Ibsen Festival.

Major Korean media quoted Koo as saying in his acceptance speech at the ceremony, "I want to keep asking what theater should be, who can take the stage, who can speak and whose voices have yet to be heard."

After studying at the School of Drama of Korea National University of Arts, Koo earned a master's from the Amsterdam University of the Arts in the Netherlands. Now based in Ghent, Belgium, he counts among his major works "Haribo Kimchi," "Cuckoo" and "Lolling & Rolling."

The day after the ceremony, "Cuckoo" was performed at the same venue. The play uses three talking rice cookers from the Korean home appliance maker Cuckoo to depict the economic insecurity and social reality in Korea amid the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Koo Jaha holds his International Ibsen Award trophy. (Official Facebook page of National Theatre in Oslo)

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