Draft Yun Dong-ju

Title	Poetry-based Independence Movement of Poet Yun Dong-ju

1차 원고

Poetry-based Independence Movement of Poet Yun Dong-ju

Yun Dong-ju(1917〜1945) is a renowned poet and independence activist who lived under the Japanese colonial rule. Since end of the 1930s, Japan implemented policy of annihilating Korean people. They forced to change first names of all Korean people into Japanese ones and prohibited use of Korean language. Resisting to this policy, Yun Dong-ju wrote poems in Korean despite strict censorship. In his poems, he mainly depicted introspection to overcome gloomy reality of Korean people.

Despite strong oppression of the colonial authority, he began to write essays and poems in his middle school days, and continued through his college days. As a student at Yeonhi College (predecessor of Yonsei University), he wrote poems, ‘Self Portrait’(자화상) and ‘A New Way’(새로운 길), to publish in the college newspaper. His poetry world mirrors his unique introspection and meditation with sense of history as an intellectual who lived the dark era. Typical poems include ‘Prelude’(서시), ‘Another Hometown’(또 다른 고향), ‘Counting Stars at Night’(별 헤는 밤), and ‘An Easily Written Poem’(쉽게 쓰여진 시).

Notwithstanding firm anti-Japan sentiment, he had to go to Japan for study after graduating Yeonhi College in 1941 to avoid draft into the army for war. For study in Japan, he had to change his first name into Japanese one. He expressed his sense of humiliation at that time in the poem, ‘Confessions’ (참회록), featuring shame on losing homeland and fierce self-reflection with deep introspection on his passive and lethargic life that refrained him from confronting the stigmatic history.

During his study in Japan, he had frequent discussions with his cousin Song Mong-gyu on subjects of reality and independence of Korea, and they were arrested by Japanese police in 1942 for alleged infringement of the public order maintenance act and imprisoned in February 1944. But both Yun Dong-ju and Song Mong-gyu died in jail for suspicious reasons on February 16 and March 7, 1945, respectively. While in jail, Song Mong-gyu told his relatives that he received suspicious injections every night, arousing speculation that they were victims of in vivo experiments.

In celebration of his graduation from college in 1941, Yun Dong-ju attempted to publish a collection of his poems, entitled ‘Sky, Wind, Stars and Poems’(하늘과 바람과 별과 시), by editing 19 poems, but failed. After the Korean Independence, Yun Dong-ju’s juniors in college, including Jeong Byeong-uk, published an increased collection of his poems under the same title in 1948.

감수본

Yun Dong-ju (1917-1945) was one of the most beloved poets and independence activist who lived under the Japanese colonial rule. Since end of the 1930s, Japan implemented a policy of annihilating Korean culture. They forced us to change our names into Japanese ones and prohibited use of Korean language for schools, publications and government offices. Resisting this censorship policy, Yun Dong-ju wrote poems in Korean, and in them mainly depicted his introspection to overcome the gloomy reality facing Koreans.

Despite the strong oppression of the colonial authority, he began to write essays and poems in his middle school days, and continued through his college days. As a student at Yeonhi College (predecessor of Yonsei University), he wrote poems such as ‘Self Portrait’ and ‘A New Way’ that were published in the college newspaper. His poetry world mirrors his unique meditations with a sense of history as an intellectual who lived the dark era.

Notwithstanding his firm anti-Japan sentiments, he had to go to Japan for study after graduating from Yeonhi College in 1941 to avoid wartime draft into the army. For study in Japan, he had to change his family name to a Japanese one. He expressed his sense of humiliation at that time in the poem, ‘Confessions’, featuring the shame of losing one’s homeland and fierce self-reflection with deep introspection on his passive and lethargic life that had refrained him from confronting the stigmatic history.

During his study in Japan, he had frequent discussions with his cousin Song Mong-gyu on subjects of reality and independence of Korea, and they were arrested by Japanese police in 1942 for alleged infringement of the public order maintenance act and imprisoned in February 1944. But both Yun Dong-ju and Song Mong-gyu died in jail in early 1945 for suspicious reasons. While in jail, Song Mong-gyu told his relatives that he received suspicious injections every night, arousing speculation that they were victims of in vivo medical experiments.

In celebration of his graduation from college in 1941, Yun Dong-ju attempted to publish a collection of his poems, entitled ‘Sky, Wind, Stars and Poems’, by editing 19 poems, but failed. After the Korean Independence, Yun’s juniors in college, including Jeong Byeong-uk, published an increased collection of his poems under the same title in 1948.