— Overview
Lee Su-in is read as the awl of the title: sharp in a society that asks people to stay smoothly round.
— Contents and key concepts
A webtoon, and a title that pricks
Choi Gyu-seok’s webtoon Awl is a story of people who form a labor union and push back against unfair work. A few years before this reading, it was already widely talked about after a television dramatization.
In 2015 JTBC aired a drama based on the strip. The student who wrote these pages had learned, in school, about Jeon Tae-il, who tried to make his voice heard by setting himself on fire. Decades had passed, and labor trouble still felt close at hand.
Lee Su-in, who will not go smoothly round
Lee Su-in once said his ambition was to become a “kkondae.” In the army he cannot stand a superior’s corruption; an officer eggs cadets on to rig an election, and a commander takes kickbacks from a supplier. After he leaves the service he finds work at a mart and rises to section chief.
There, too, he is as sharp as the tool in the title. When a boss tells him to use any means to make staff walk out on their own, he answers that this is illegal, and that he himself will not do it. In a country that, as the reading has it, often asks people to stay smoothly round, he stays pointed.
A union, and a law named out loud
The story then turns to the union they build, and to people who want to claim their rights against unlawful practice. Korean labor law, including the Labor Standards Act, comes up often enough that readers talked about it.
Choi Gyu-seok has described the labor movement as a way to protect ordinary weak people from ordinary strong ones. The longer Korean reading is on CampusDown.
Sources
- A student reading of Choi Gyu-seok’s webtoon Awl, through Lee Su-in, a mart, a union, and the 2015 JTBC drama.
Last updated 15 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Awl, and what is it about?
Choi Gyu-seok’s webtoon follows people who form a union and fight unfair labor practices. The title character in all but name is Lee Su-in, a mart section chief who will not do what he knows is illegal.
How does Lee Su-in come to the mart?
His hoped-for future was to become a “kkondae.” In the army he cannot bear a superior’s corruption; after discharge he takes a job at a mart and is promoted. When a boss tells him to make staff leave of their own accord, he says that is illegal, and that he will not do it.
When was the webtoon dramatized?
A JTBC television drama based on the webtoon was broadcast in 2015. The student reading also remembers Jeon Tae-il from school textbooks, and notices how often Korean labor law is named in the strip.
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