Born in 1977 in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, Choe Gyu-seok studied cartoon and animation (BFA) at SangMyung University and made his debut as a cartoonist with the selection of his work in a competition hosted by a magazine in 1998. Recipient of Dong-A LG International Festival of Comics, Cartoon, Character Design, and Animation (DIFECA) for his "The Cola Man" in 2002 and the Comics Readers' Award and the Presidential Award for Outstanding Leaders of the 21st Century in 2003, he was invited to the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2003 and selected among "New Cultural Stars" by the daily Hankyoreh in 2006. His works include A Report on the Ecology of Marshes, The Awl, and A Sad Homage to Dooly the Dinosaur. Currently, he serializes The Natives of the Republic of Korea in the weekly Hankyoreh 21.