Chung Myung-seop won the Top Excellence Prize at the 1st Jikji Novel Literature Award in 2013 for Memory, Jikji; the New Currents Award at the 21st Busan International Film Festival in 2016 for Joseon Lawyer: Royal Lawsuit Cases; and the Grand Prize at the Korean Mystery Literature Awards in 2020 for Death in the Grave. His notable works include The Children of the Reservoir; When They Rule the World; 1948, Two Friends; The Memory Bookstore; and Glacier Joseon. He has also contributed to numerous anthologies, including The Secret of the Umbrella; My Hobby Is Malicious Comments, My Specialty Is Blunt Words; Weird, Academy; and The World of Sudden Rise.

​