[Article] What the Poet Kim Ji-ha Achieved and Left Behind / Yom Mu-woong
The Quarterly Changbi 197, Autumn 2022
Abstract
Remembering the late poet Kim Ji-ha (1941-2022), literary critic Yom Mu-woong shares with us insights into his life and literature, which the critic could observe personally and as an astute critic. Kim Ji-ha was imprisoned for his leadership in the student demonstration against the humiliating Korean-Japanese Conference in 1964 and was later sentenced even to capital punishment for the 1974 National League of Democratic Youth and Students Incident. His epic poem, “Five Bandits,” published in 1970, shook the Korean literary world and society. Appreciating that this poem not only includes a powerful satire and criticism of the corruption and depravity of the ruling class at that time, but also reviving the form and rhythm of traditional pansori, as weapons of social criticism, Yom discusses the hardships the poet had to undergo throughout his life and that he reflected on in his work. It is a dignified and heartfelt memorial tribute for an unparalleled poet, who symbolized the passionate democratization struggle and heart-rending suffering of an era.