Han Malsook was born on December 27, 1931, in Seoul, Korea. Han graduated from Seoul National University with a Linguistics degree and worked in an advisory capacity in the Department of Public Reports. She was also a lecturer at Seoul National University's Music School. Her literary debut was in 1956 with two of her short stories ("The Season in Starlight" and "Precipice of a Myth") that were published in the Contemporary Literature Journal at the suggestion of Kim Dong-ni. Han was also a member of the UNESCO Korean Committee. Malsook is married to gayageum musician Hwang Byungki and their eldest son is mathematician Jun-Muk Hwang.