Poet Yun Dong-ju Honored

Yun Dong-ju (1917-1945) is revered for his poetry, which expresses the complex feelings of pain, guilt, and disillusionment wrought by Japanese colonialism. A graduate of Yonhee College, the forerunner of today’s Yonsei University, Yun effectively conveyed the split-consciousness of the colonial subject and the sense of disempowerment that accompanies it. While studying English literature in Japan, Yun was arrested for participating in Korean independence movement activities. He died at the age of twenty-nine in a Fukuoka, Japan prison, some seven months before his homeland’s liberation.

Commemorating 71st Anniversary of Yun’s Death

On February 16, despite falling snow, hundreds gathered in front of Yun Dong-ju monument on the Sinchon Campus to commemorate the seventy-first anniversary of the poet’s death. Following the commemoration ceremony, a memorial service was held as well as the award ceremony for the poetry contest that bears Yun’s name. Held since 2013, the Yun Dong-ju Poetry Contest invites local high school students to compose poems in honor of Yun’s life and work.

Film on Yun Dong-ju Well Received

The film Dong-ju, directed by Lee Jun-ik, has received strong ratings from critics and performed well at the box office. Focusing on Yun and his cousin, Song Mong-gyu, the film depicts the difficulties and frustrations experienced by Korean youth during Japanese colonial rule. Yun felt a strong sense of shame due to his inability to remedy the wide gap between his ideals and the reality of colonial modernity. His response was to write poetry; unfortunately, he was unable to publish a collection of poems during his lifetime.

Yun’s poetry collection, Heaven, Wind, Stars, and Poems, was finally published in 1948. A new edition of this collection has recently been published, along with the manuscript Handwritten Heaven, Wind, Stars, and Poems. The musical Yun Dong-ju Shoots the Moon has also appeared on stage in Seoul.

Next year will mark Yun’s 100th birthday. To celebrate the occasion, Yonsei will remodel Pinson Hall, where Yun’s dorm room was located, and rename it Yun Dong-ju Memorial Hall.