Poetry endures longer than guns
And travels farther than power.
Hailing from Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, Mr. Park Sung-jin is a poet, active as a literary and cultural critic, composer, and jewelry installation artist. His literary work focuses primarily on the study of Yun Dong-ju’s literature as well as themes related to Korea’s division and reunification literature. He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Literature from Oikos University in the United States and serves as Vice President of the International Foundation for Human Peace and Service. He has received numerous literary honors, including the Yun Dong-ju Literary Award, the Literary Criticism Grand Prize, and the Literary Criticism Award. Currently, he works as a cultural critic for the online newspaper Culture & People.
Dreaming of a Nation of Poetry
A single poem
Becomes a bird crossing borders,
And a single line of language
Becomes a bridge spanning the seas.
The flowers blossomed by the letters created by King Sejong
Bloom toward the skies of the world,
While Kim So-wol’s azaleas
And Yun Dong-ju’s starlight
Reach beyond the small peninsula in the East
And seep into the hearts of humanity.
Even today, Korean poets
Sow the seeds of love and peace.
Poetry endures longer than guns
And travels farther than power.
One day, Korean literature
Will become a beacon illuminating world literature,
Shining upon the human heart
And singing of Korea,
The Nation of Poetry.
시의 나라를 꿈꾸며
한 편의 시가
국경을 넘는 새가 되고
한 줄의 언어가
바다를 건너는 다리가 된다
세종의 글자가 피워 올린 꽃은
세계의 하늘을 향해 피어나고
김소월의 진달래와
윤동주의 별빛은
동쪽의 작은 반도를 넘어
인류의 가슴에 스며든다
한국의 시인들은 오늘도
사랑과 평화의 씨앗을 뿌리고
시는 총보다 오래 남고
권력보다 멀리 달려간다
언젠가 한국문학은
세계문학을 밝히는 등불이 되어
인간의 마음을 비추며
시의 나라, 한국을 노래하리라
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