Yi Mun-yol was born in Cheongun-dong, a neighborhood in central Seoul, South Korea in 1948, but the outbreak of the Korean War and his father's defection to North Korea forced his family to move about until they settled in Yeongyang County, Gyeongsangbuk-do, the ancestral seat of his family. The fact that his father defected dramatically affected his life, as he was seen and treated as "the son of a political offender," and was "passed around among relatives He dropped out of the College of Education of Seoul National University in 1970. He then studied for the Korean bar exam and failed three times. He entered literary contests with little success. The manuscript of "Son of Man", which later became his debut novel in book form, was rejected. He married in 1973 and then joined the army to complete his compulsory military service. After he was discharged from the army, he taught school at a private institute.