Kim Su-Young (1921–1968) was a Korean poet.
1. Life
Kim Su-Young was born in Gwancheol-dong, Seoul on November 27, 1921. After graduating from Sunrin Commercial High School, Kim departed for Japan to study at the Tokyo University of Commerce. He returned to Korea in 1943 to avoid the conscription of student soldiers in Japan. A year later, he moved to Jilin, Manchuria with his family and taught at Jilin High School. At this time, Kim was also heavily involved in theatre work. Upon Korea's independence in 1945, Kim returned to Seoul to work as an interpreter and transferred to the department of English at Yonhui University as a senior, but did not graduate. He published his first poem, "Myojeongui Norae" (묘정의 노래 Song of a Shrine) in 1947, in Yesul Burak, followed by a highly acclaimed anthology with Kim Gyeong-rin, Park In-hwan and other members of the Sinshiron (신시론) group entitled Saeroun Dosiwa Simindeurui Hapchang (새로운 도시와 시민들의 합창 The New City and the Chorus of Citizens) in 1949.
During the Korean war, he was conscripted by the North Korean Army and became a prisoner of war. He was released to the Geojedo POW camp in 1952, where he worked as an interpreter for the director of the hospital, and for the U.S 8th Army. Kim, who taught English at Sunrin Commercial High School later in life, began working for the Jugan Taepyeongyang and Pyeonghwa newspapers after returning to Seoul in 1954. The following year, Kim retired from his work and began a poultry farming operation from his home, in order to devote himself to poetry, translation and literary criticism. He published a poetry collection entitled Dallaraui Jangnan (달나라의 장난 A Game Played on the Moon), for which he received the first Poet's Association Award. He died on June 16, 1968, after being struck by a bus while in Seoul.
2. Writing
Kim Su-Young's poetry explored love and freedom as poetic and political ideals. Kim's literary orientation became clear when he led other young Korean poets in Hubangi (후반기), a group dedicated to redirecting Korean poetry away from the traditionalism and lyricism of the early 1950s, confronting social concerns by using language in a new way. Among the innovations were the use of surrealism, abstraction, prose, slang and profanity in Kim's poems. Kim's early poems were in a Modernist style, though later he changed directions, using everyday language in addressing social issues. Many are political, either overtly or by hidden implication.
According to the scholar of Korean literature, Brother Anthony of Taizé,[1] Kim's significance and impact only really took place after his death. He only published one volume of poetry, Dallaraui Jangnan, in 1959. Shortly before his death, he wrote an essay published in the Choson Ilbo newspaper in early 1968, "Silheomjeogin Munhakgwa Jeongchijeok Jayu" (실험적인 문학과 정치적 자유 Experimental Literature and Political Freedom), which sparked a lively debate.
Perhaps his best-known poem is "Pul" (풀 Grass). The Kim Su-Young Literary Award is named in his honor.
Reference
[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-02-25. Retrieved 2005-09-17.
