Kim Hakchul (1916–2001)[1] was a China-based independence activist and writer who wrote in Hangeul. He is known as "the last squad leader of the Korean Volunteer Army" for his active participation in the anti-Japanese activism to liberate Korea during the Japanese colonial era. After the country's independence, he settled in Yanji, China and wrote a variety of works—including Haerangang-a malhara (해란강아 말하라, Let the Haeran River Speak) published in 1954, 20 segiui sinhwa (20세기의 신화, Myth of the 20th Century) in 1967, and Gyeokjeong sidae (격정시대, The Era of Passion) in 1986—to the point of being called "the father of the Korean Chinese literature." His works describe a specific reality, always maintain a positive attitude as well as a sense of humor, and pursues an international solidarity of the people.
1. Life
Before the Liberation of Korea
Kim was born in 1916, in Wonsan, Hamgyeongnam-do. He graduated Wonsan Public High School 2 and Posung High School. In 1934, he sent the manuscript of his short story "Tarakja (타락자, The Degenerate)" to the literary magazine Joseon Literary World, but it was never published. In 1935, he operated as a member of the Heroic Corps, in Shanghai, China,[2] and joined the Korean Volunteer Army after his graduation of Central Military Academy. He entered the Communist Party of China in 1940. At the 1941 combat in Hujiazhuang where he fought as a squad leader, he was captured and became a prisoner of the Japanese military to serve in the Nagasaki penitentiary. Then Korea was liberated, and so he was subsequently set free.[3] He acquired the nickname "the last squad leader of the Korean Volunteer Army," and wrote the lyric of "Joseon ui-yonggun chudoga (조선의용군 추도가, The Elegy for the Korean Volunteer Army)" and the play Deungdae (등대, Lighthouse).[4]
After the liberation
While working as a member of the Seoul committee of the Alliance for the Independence of Joseon, Kim published "Jine (지네, The Centipede)" in 1945. Subsequently, in 1946, he published "Gyunyeol (균열, The Friction)" and "Bam-e jabeun buro (밤에 잡은 부로, The Prisoner Caught in the Night)," and moved to North Korea.[5] Working for the Rodong Sinmun as a journalist, he published the novella Beomram (범람, Flood). He criticized the Soviet Union through his article "Sahoeju-ui geonseoreul nuga pagoehaneunga (사회주의 건설을 누가 파괴하는가, Who Is Destroying the Establishment of Communism)," for which he was fired from the newspaper.[6] This incident led to his disillusionment with the Kim Il-sung administration and so he sought asylum in China.[7] Later, he worked as a researcher at the Central Research Institute of Literature in Beijing, and in 1951, he published the short story collection Gungong medal (군공메달, Medal for Meritorious Service in War). Then he served as a manager at the Preparation Committee of the Literature and Arts Federation in Yanji, while translating into Korean The True Story of Ah Q, written by Lu Xun, and The Sun Shines over the Sanggan River, written by Ding Ling. He published three books in a row: his short story collection Saejip deuneun nal (새집 드는 날, Moving Day) came out in 1953, the novel Haerangang-a malhara in 1954, and the novella Beonyeong (번영, Prosperity) in 1957.
After the 1960s
Kim was regarded as a 'reactionary writer' for criticizing the Culture Revolution in his book 20 segiui sinhwa (1967) and put in prison for a decade. Then, in 1980, he was reinstated and resumed writing at the age of 65. His autobiography Hangjeon byeolgok (항전별곡, Song of Resistance) came out in 1983, and he was assigned to the vice president of the Yanji branch of the Chinese Writers Association. In 1986, he published the novel Gyeokjeong sidae. Many of his works came out in South Korea in the 1990s, such as the memoir Choehu-ui bundaejang (최후의 분대장, The Last Squad Leader) published in 1995. Notably, 20 segiui sinhwa was only published in South Korea.
Death, awards, and decorations
He died of a chronic disease in 2001, in Yanji. A few days before his death, he left his will saying "never send in an obituary, cremate my body, and throw my ashes on the lower Tumen river." And in accordance with his will, his ashes were thrown in the river.[8] He received the Special Prize of the 1994 Overseas Koreans Awards (해외동포상), and the 2001 Chang Bai Shan Best Writer Awards (장백산작가상). 'The Monument to the Writer Kim Hakchul Who Fought Against Japan' was built in 2005, in the battleground of the Hujiazhuang combat located in Hebei, China. Also, 'The Literary Monument to Kim Hakchul' was erected in 2006 in Changan Village, Tumen City, China. 'The Kim Hakchul Literary Awards' were founded by the Yanbian Association of Writers in 2007, and since the second awards, their winners have not been limited to the Korean Chinese and given to writers of all nationalities.
2. Writing
Many of the works written by Kim Hakchul, who is called "the father of the Korean Chinese literature," are set in both Korea and China and pursue an international solidarity of the people.[9] The notable features of his literature are his optimistic humor and vividly-written episodes conveying his experiences of fighting against Japan as a member of many organizations like the Korean Volunteer Army.
Haerangang-a malhara (1954), the first novel written by a Korean resident in China, deals with the protests of tenant farmers in North Gando around the time the Japanese invaded Manchuria. It shows the power of the people by depicting the tenant farmers who gradually realize the class conflict,[10] and represents the anti-Japanese movement carried out through the solidarity between the Communist Party of China and the Joseon farmers.[11]
The book 20 segiui sinhwa (1967) criticized the political climate of China at the time, by recording the history of the suffering intellectuals from the 1950s to the 1960s when the Anti-rightist Movements and the Great Leap Forward were in progress. Because of this publication, Kim's house was searched, his manuscript was confiscated, and he was imprisoned for a long time.[12] In the first chapter "The Concentration Camp," he describes the pain of the stigmatized intellectuals, and in the second chapter "After the Concentration Camp,"[13] he denounces the brutality and tyranny committed during the time of the Great Leap Forward.[14] In addition, he points out the reasons behind the confusion in those days[15] and calls for the universal value of humanism.[16]
Gyeokjeong sidae (1986) is an autobiographical, revolutionary coming-of-age story in which the protagonist Seo Seonjang grows into a warrior who fights against Japan, through his experiences of the Wonsan Strike, the Gwangju Student Independence Movement, and the Bombing by Yun Bong-gil.[17] It encourages national consciousness and reflects upon the history of the anti-Japanese movement,[18] promoting an international solidarity that goes beyond the boundaries between the nations.[19]
As such, Kim Hakchul's works capture the truth and realities of life with a powerful prose and positive attitude.[20]
Reference
[1] His real name is Hong Seong-geol. While he was in the Korean Volunteer Army, he was worried that the Japanese military might harm his family. So he kept his name a secret and used the pseudonym Kim Hakchul.
("Kim Hakchul," Encyclopedia of Current Events and Common Knowledge, accessed November 8, 2019, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=66779&cid=43667&categoryId=43667.)
[2] The Heroic Corps is an armed anti-Japanese organization that fought for the independence of Korea, formed in November, 1919, in Jilin Sheng, Manchuria. It was highly active in the 1920s with its members assassinating high-ranking Japanese officials and bombing public offices. From the late 1920s, it was influenced by radical nationalism. Prominent figures in the history of the Korean nationalist movement, such as Kim Gu, Kim Gyusik, Kim Changsuk, Shin Chaeho, served as advisors of the group and it was also supported by Chiang Kai-shek, former leader of the Republic of China.
("The Heroic Corps," Doopedia, accessed November 8, 2019, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1133974&cid=40942&categoryId=40012.)
[3] "Kim Hakchul," Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, accessed November 8, 2019, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=2458328&cid=46629&categoryId=46629.
[4] Lim Gyuchan, Pak Suyeon, et al., Independence and Division, Reformed Boundaries (Seoul: Minumsa, 2016), 169.
[5] "Kim Hakchul," Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, accessed November 8, 2019, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=2458328&cid=46629&categoryId=46629.
[6] "Kim Hakchul," Encyclopedia of Current Events and Common Knowledge, accessed November 8, 2019, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=66779&cid=43667&categoryId=43667.
[7] "Kim Hakchul," Doopedia, accessed November 8, 2019, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1217572&cid=40942&categoryId=39766.
[8] "Kim Hakchul," Doopedia, accessed November 8, 2019, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=1217572&cid=40942&categoryId=39766.
[9] Kim Hakchul, Gyeokjeong sidae (Seoul: Zmanz Books, 2010), 19.
[10] Kim Jonghoe, The Diaspora Literature of the Korean Residents in China (Seoul: Kookhak, 2016), 124–128.
[11] Lim Gyuchan, Pak Suyeon, et al., Independence and Division, Reformed Boundaries (Seoul: Minumsa, 2016), 188.
[12] Jeon Jeong-ok, "Study on Kim Hakchul's Literature, Focusing on His Writing Principles and Consciousness as a Writer" (PhD diss, Sung Kyun Kwan University, 2006), 128.
[13] Kim Myeong-in, Separation from the Obvious (Paju: Changbi, 2004), 38.
[14] Lee Sang-gab, "The Desire and Embodiment of Historical Testimonies," The Journal of Korean Studies 10 (1998), 169.
[15] Gang Ok, On Kim Hakchul's Writing (Seoul: Kookhak, 2010), 167.
[16] Go Inhwan, Literature Crossing Boundaries (Seoul: Kookhak, 2015), 94.
[17] Lim Gyuchan, Pak Suyeon, et al., Independence and Division, Reformed Boundaries (Seoul: Minumsa, 2016), 188.
[18] Yeon Namkyeong, Thinking Beyond Boundaries and the Ethics of Narratives (Seoul: Ewha Womans University Press, 2017), 273.
[19] Go Myeongcheol, "On Kim Hakchul's Gyeokjeong sidae: International Solidarity of the People and Anti-colonialism, Where Revolutionary Coming-of-age Story Lies," Journal of Bangyo Language and Literature 22 (2006), 244–246.
[20] Gwon Yeongmin, "Kim Hakchul," Encyclopedia of Contemporary Korean Literature, accessed November 8, 2019, https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=333366&cid=41708&categoryId=41737.
