Diaspora: Greek word composed of dia- (beyond~/across~) & -spero (to scatter)
Refers to a community or group of people who have left their homeland and maintain their norms and customs while living in another country
In 1914, he dropped out of Seoul Central High school and tried to enroll in the Beijing Military Academy in China to join the anti-Japanese independence movement. However, due to the opposition of his elder brother, he returned to his hometown.
In 1919, he was imprisoned due to his involvement in the March 1st Movement and was released the following year. After his release, he enrolled in the Philosophy Department at a university in Tokyo.
In 1921, he published the first collection of Korean modern play,
In 1924, he joined as a reporter for the newspaper 『Sidae Ilbo』, and published the first collection of his own poetry, .
In 1925, he participated as a founding member of the KAPF and published the following year. He also published works that portrayed the harsh realities of forced migration, such as .
In July 1927, he published the novel ,
… For millennium and for Eternity,
Nakdonggang! Nakdonggang!
No matter the infinite,
Never will forget
Never be forgotten, ay-yi-yi
Folk song inserted at the beginning of <The Nakdong River>
In 1928, he went into exile to the Soviet Union, and in the first year of his asylum, he published resistance poem .
… Yet we do not despair, for we believe in our strength,
In the clenched fists that remain,
Only bones but holy with the power to strike down our foes upside down in the righteous fight,
Indeed, it is right for this fight …
Phrase from <Trampled Koryo>
In 1934, he joined the Soviet Writer’s Union and worked as an editor for the literary section of the newspaper 『Seonbong Sinmun』.
In 1935, he moved to Khabarovsk and worked as a professor at the Korean Pedagogical University, where he devoted himself to educating his students.
During the Stalinist period in 1937 (The deportation policy of Koreans/Koryo people in the Soviet Union carried out during that time), he was accused of being a spy for Japan under the charge of ‘Enemy of the people.’
He was arrested, sentenced to death on April 15, 1938, and executed on May 11 of the same year.
Poet and independence activist Po Seok Cho Myung-hi, who died in a foreign land without seeing the liberation, is still full of love for Korean literature.
Po Seok Cho Myung-hi, the first exile writer and independence activist in Korea. Now it is your turn to complete what he had dreamed of for the better future!