걸어가야겠다.”
More than half a century later, the lines of Yun Dong Ju’s “서시, “ or “Foreword,” still ring with the anguish and suffering of Korea under the Japanese colonial rule. During World War II, Japan annexed Korea and made its utmost effort to completely annihilate Korea’s national identity. Koreans were given Japanese names, attended Japanese schools, read Japanese books, and spoke Japanese. In the midst of Japan’s cultural sweep was an ordinary citizen, one with neither political power nor influential status, yet is now revered as one of Korea’s greatest poets. He was a poet not of Japan, but of Korea. Not of the government, but of the people. He was Yun Dong Ju, the anguished voice of Korea.
Born as 해환 (Haehwan) on December 30th, 1917, …show more content…
Under the colonial Japanese rule, Korean citizens were tortured and starved, surviving on meager rations. Koreans were deprived of their freedom of speech, assembly, association, and press. Korea’s cultural temples and palaces were renovated with characteristics of Japanese architecture, history textbooks were revised, and Japanese education was taught in schools- all in an attempt to demolish Korean culture and justify Japanese rule. A total of 60,000 Koreans were killed by the Japanese government. Inhumane medical experiments were performed on innocent Koreans convicted of vaguely classified crimes. Young girls, referred to as “comfort women,” were taken from their families and used as rape slaves for Japanese soldiers. Seeing Korea being abused angered many citizens, but they could not speak up in fear of the punishment they could receive from Japan. Even after Korean independence, many citizens had to endure devastating conditions as they tried to mend an injured Korea. Distressed, many Koreans found solace in Yun Dong Ju’s poems, particularly “Foreword.” Yun’s writing inspired patriotism into the people and gave them consolation. I believe that such patriotism was the impetus for Koreans to recover from both World War II and the Korean War and achieve its global status in the world
More than half a century later, the lines of Yun Dong Ju’s “서시, “ or “Foreword,” still ring with the anguish and suffering of Korea under the Japanese colonial rule. During World War II, Japan annexed Korea and made its utmost effort to completely annihilate Korea’s national identity. Koreans were given Japanese names, attended Japanese schools, read Japanese books, and spoke Japanese. In the midst of Japan’s cultural sweep was an ordinary citizen, one with neither political power nor influential status, yet is now revered as one of Korea’s greatest poets. He was a poet not of Japan, but of Korea. Not of the government, but of the people. He was Yun Dong Ju, the anguished voice of Korea.
Born as 해환 (Haehwan) on December 30th, 1917, …show more content…
Under the colonial Japanese rule, Korean citizens were tortured and starved, surviving on meager rations. Koreans were deprived of their freedom of speech, assembly, association, and press. Korea’s cultural temples and palaces were renovated with characteristics of Japanese architecture, history textbooks were revised, and Japanese education was taught in schools- all in an attempt to demolish Korean culture and justify Japanese rule. A total of 60,000 Koreans were killed by the Japanese government. Inhumane medical experiments were performed on innocent Koreans convicted of vaguely classified crimes. Young girls, referred to as “comfort women,” were taken from their families and used as rape slaves for Japanese soldiers. Seeing Korea being abused angered many citizens, but they could not speak up in fear of the punishment they could receive from Japan. Even after Korean independence, many citizens had to endure devastating conditions as they tried to mend an injured Korea. Distressed, many Koreans found solace in Yun Dong Ju’s poems, particularly “Foreword.” Yun’s writing inspired patriotism into the people and gave them consolation. I believe that such patriotism was the impetus for Koreans to recover from both World War II and the Korean War and achieve its global status in the world