Lee Myung Won has been a literary critic since 1993. Since 2000, he has contributed columns to major newspapers in Korea. While studying Korea's modern literature, he has been focusing on Okinawa for his thoughts on the issue of building an East Asian perspective. He has been awarded the Sangsang Critics Award, the Korean Publishing Culture Award, and the Sungkyunkwan Literature Award. The books include Two Island (2017), and Market Power, and Humanity (2008).