Kwak Hyo Hwan (born 1967) is a South Korean poet. Since his literary debut in 1996, he wrote a number of poems based on his interest in regions north of the Korean Peninsula, including Dandong, China, Tibet, Xinjiang Uyghurs Autonomous Region of China, Siberia, and Baykal. In the early 2000s, he served as the director-general of the Daesan Foundation and planned and organized a variety of events for the globalization of Korean literature.
1. Life
Kwak was born in Jeonju, South Jeolla Province, in 1967 but grew up in Seoul. After graduating from college, he worked for four years as a reporter for Yonhap News Agency.[1] He made his literary debut with the publication of “Byeokhwa sogui goyangi 3” (벽화 속의 고양이 3 The Cat in the Mural 3) in Segye Ilbo in 1996, followed by the publication of six poems including “Suraksan” (수락산 Mount Surak) in Sipyeong (시평) in 2002. He served as an editor for Munhaknamoo and Urimunhwa and also as the director-general of the Daesan Foundation.[2]
As the director-general of the Daesan Foundation, Kwak planned and organized a variety of events for the globalization of Korean literature.[3] In 2000, the Daesan Foundation hosted the first Seoul International Forum for Literature, which Kwak attended the forum alongside the South Korean poet Ko Un, American poet Gary Snyder, English novelist Margaret Drabble, and translator Brother Anthony.[4] Aiming to promote cultural exchange between Korean writers and distinguished writers from around the world, the second edition of the forum was held in 2005, followed by the third edition in 2011, and the fourth in 2017.[5]
In 2003, a Korean literature festival was held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. Cohosted by Russia’s A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Daesan Foundation, the festival was the first of its kind to be held in Russia.[6] Kwak participated in the festival along with the South Korean poet Chong Hyon-jong, literary critic Yu Jong-ho, literature scholar Cho Tong-il, Russian novelist Anatoli Kim, and researcher Kim Ryo Ho at the Gorky Institute.[7]
The year 2008 was the last year of the fellowship program for Korean writers jointly sponsored by the Daesan Foundation and the Center for Korean Studies at UC Berkeley. To discuss the future plans for this program, Kwak visited UC Berkeley. At the Center for Korean Studies, he held a poem reading session, in which he read a few poems from his first poetry collection Indio yeoin (인디오 여인 The Indio Woman).[8] He then visited Mexico to discuss literary translation projects between South Korea and Mexico with Mexican publisher Fondo De Cultura Economica.
Kwak also participated in the 2013 World Writers’ Festival along with other renowned poets from Korea and around the world and held a poetry reading.[9]
2. Writing
Northern Consciousness
The topic that has been long explored in Kwak Hyo Hwan’s literature is the regions north of the Korean Peninsula. He published a book on his research into the “northern consciousness” of modern Korean poets who were born in the northern regions between the 1920s and the 1940s, including Kim Dong-hwan, Baek Seok, Yi Yong-ak, O Chang-hwan, Yu Chi-hwan, and Yi Yuksa, titled Hanguk geundaesiui bukbanguisik (한국 근대시의 북방의식 The Northern Consciousness in Modern Korean Poetry) (2008).[10] In addition, he traveled and explored regions north of the Korean Peninsula, including the Chinese city Dandong, Tibet, Xinjiang, Siberia, and Baykal. Created based on such experience, his poetry collections Jidoe eomneun jip (지도에 없는 집 The House Not Found on a Map) (2010), Seulpeumui ppyeodae (슬픔의 뼈대 The Frame of Sorrow) (2014) show Kwak’s deep contemplation on the life and history of the northern regions.[11]
To Kwak, the concept of norther regions is not simply geographical regions to the north of the Korean Peninsula. As seen in “Baikal saramdeul” (바이칼 사람들 The People of Baykal), the north is a warm and hospitable place where human life has been kept in it is original form, before life has become fragmented and desolate through the modern civilization. But at the same time, the north reminds us of the turbulent history of Korea, such as the independence movement and forced labor in colonial Korea under the Japanese rule, as well as the division of the Korean Peninsula, portrayed in “Siberia hoengdanyeolcha 2” (시베리아 횡단열차2 The Trans-Siberian Railroad 2).[12] Regarding the north, Kwak explained, “It is the beginning and the end. Even if you were isolated, oppressed by the powerful, there you could face each other and live in harmony.” When asked about the reason he repeatedly uses the imagery of the northern regions, he replied, “Our life is in disharmony, as we wish to return to that peaceful place but are unable to. I wanted to express that.”[13]
Consciousness of the Other
Kwak’s fourth poetry collection Neoneun (너는 You Are), published in 2018, was praised for adding socio-historical imagination to the issue that he has long explored—the issue of the formation of relationship between the self and others. According to the foreword, “you” is “the other but also us.” It is “the beginning and the end” and “the unreachable other inside me.” In Neoneun, “you” is expressed in a number of different ways—“you” is Kwak’s father, who left for a port city to look for a job and whom young Kwak waited for endlessly (“Madangeul geonneoda” (마당을 건너다 Crossing the Yard)) or a Koryo-saram youth, who has been wandering through Hamgyeong Province, Primorsky Krai, Moscow, and Seoul to make a living (“Naneun Koryo-saramida” (나는 고려 사람이다 I Am Koryo-saram)).[14] In “2014-nyeon yeoreum, Gwanghwamun gwangjangeseo” (2014년 여름, 광화문광장에서 In Summer 2014 at Gwanghwamun Square), Kwak described his search of the foundation dubbed “you” in this time and age when everyone touted themselves, against the backdrop of the Gwanghwamun Square where all kinds of protests and rallies are held. In this way, Kwak attempts to get in touch with “you,” or everyone else who is not “me.” His poetic work seems to spur interest in “us” as a community rather than the individuals, such as “me” or singular “you.”[15]
