Historical Context
Korean Poetry
Korean poetry has a rich history that goes back
to the fourth centuryB.C. Since the Korean
alphabet was not invented until the fifteenth
century, Koreans phonetically copied Chinese
characters for their own writing. Like the liter-
ature of other cultures, Korean poetry has gone
through many different stages across the centu-
ries, including presenting poetry in the form of a
song at festivals in ancient times.
During Pak’s lifetime, several different move-
ments in poetry occurred. In the early twentieth
century, imagism and modernism were intro-
duced through translations of writers such as
Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot. In the late 1930s,
there was a proliferation of poetry and literary
magazines. Finding modernism lifeless, some
poets tried to energize their works by manipulat-
ing language and looking into themselves for the
essence of life. In 1939, the debut of the three
poets who would become the Green Deer Group
(Pak Mogweol, Cho Chihun, and Pak) brought
back the traditions of lyric poetry and the pursuit
of the meaning of life in nature.
After 1945, political turmoil affected litera-
ture production, as writers in the North and
South chose factions, either the nationalists or
the communists. After the Korean War, patriotic
works were popular in the South, and then two
movements emerged. The traditionalists followed
long-established rhythms and emphasized folk
sentiment and sensibility. The experimentalistsCOMPARE
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CONTRAST 1945:The Japanese surrender to the Allied
forces liberates Korea from Japan but leaves
the country divided with the Russians con-
trolling Korea north of the 38th parallel,
and the Americans occupying the South.
1963:Korea is ten years past the Korean
War that permanently separated North and
South Korea along the 38th parallel. A new
civilian government, the Third Republic, is
elected in South Korea after three years of
political instability and a military coup.
Today:Over five decades later, the U.S. mili-
tary still guards the demilitarized zone
between North and South Korea. Commu-
nist North Korea is much in the news as it
builds its nuclear capabilities and makes
threats of missile strikes against neighboring
countries. In South Korea, the Fifth Repub-
lic has lasted since 1980 and has further
evolved into a fully democratic country.
1945:Liberation results in a proliferation of
all types of poetry in Korea. Some poems
focus on the recent war, others try to re-
establish traditional Korean values, and stillothers draw on Western themes and tech-
niques, thus expanding their subject matter
and styles. Generally, though, Korean poets
want to make their poetry reflective of a peo-
ple who have survived crisis.
1963:Traumatized by the Korean War and
the political violence from 1960 to 1963, writ-
ers and poets have experienced emotional
chaos for ten years. Writers have not had
the creative time or energy to fully record
their war experiences or try to inspire a new
direction. Pak experiences his darkest days,
too, but manages to remember the dreams
Koreans had upon liberation in ‘‘River of
August.’’ In the late 1960s, Korean writers
regain innovation and momentum.
Today:Korean literature enjoys the wide
range of expression characteristic of any
democratic country. Since the 1980s, trans-
lations of Korean works are received with
appreciation in other parts of the world, and
journals on Korean literature can be found
in English-speaking countries.River of August