Why are you both earth and sky?

Seok Yeon-gyeong

Poet and Literary Critic Seok Yeon-gyeong was born in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of Korea, in 1968. She made her literary debut as a poet in Poetry and Culture and as a literary critic in Poetry and the World in 2013. She has published five collections of poetry, including Days of the Eagle, Flash, Icebreaker, Building a Blue Wall, Tang Tang, and The Universe of the Garden. Her works of literary criticism include Variations on Ecopoetics. She has also published The Round Mirror, a collection combining temple poetry and photography; Forest Path, a collection of healing aphoristic poems; The Garden of the Universe, a selection of garden-themed poetry; Suncheon Garden Culture with Poetry, a collection of poetry, photography, and prose; and la forêt du temple d’or, a selection of her poems translated into French. She received the Young Poet Award from the Song Su-gwon Poetry Literary Award and currently serves as the director of the Yeon-gyeong Institute for Humanities, Culture, and Arts.

The Song of God

Why are you cloaked in blue?

Your blue wings beating softly,

You stand amid the biting cold of the snowstorm,

Covering fear with the ringing in your ears.

Silence covers the knife-sharp wind.

Why are your lips so deeply red?

Among fruit trees

Dripping with juice,

Is what you shed the tear of a withered eye?

Look at the monsoon.

The rain falls only as sound,

While the dry desert makes the sound of waves.

Come and find my grave—

A grave that does not yet exist.

There, you who lie dead

Dance alive, glowing red.

The heartbeat of the universe

Springs from the grave

And rises into the sky.

You who sing the song of God in silence—

Why are you both earth and sky?

신의 노래

당신은 무엇 때문에 푸릅니까

푸른 날개 펄럭이며

눈보라 추위에 서서

이명이 공포를 덮습니까

적막이 칼바람을 덮습니다

당신 입술은 왜 붉디 붉습니까

즙이 흘러나오는

과일나무 사이에서

당신이 흘린 것은 메마른 눈물입니까

장마를 보십시오

비는 소리로 내릴 뿐

마른 사막은 물결 소리를 냅니다

나의 무덤을 찾으세요

아직 한참 없는 무덤을

그 안에 죽어 있는 당신이

살아서 붉게 춤추는 것을

우주의 심장 소리가

무덤에서 뜅겨나와

하늘로 떠오릅니다

신의 노래를 고요로 부르는 당신  

왜 당신은 땅이자 하늘입니까

___________________ 

Read: Gandhi’s Walking Stick – Korean Poetry

The post The Song of God – Korean Poetry first appeared on Sindh Courier.

rests in the palm of my hand.

With a sip of water, it travels into the body

and disappears.

Dr. Nam Young-joo

 Poet Dr. Nam Young-joo is a poet and a Doctor of Pharmacy. She received the New Writer’s Literary Award from Literary Batang, a monthly literary magazine. She graduated from Daegu Catholic University, formerly known as Hyosung Women’s College, and earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees from the College of Pharmacy at Duksung Women’s University. She also completed a program at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Seoul National University. She has served as a lecturer at the College of Pharmacy at Duksung Women’s University and at Busan Women’s Junior College. She has also held various positions in professional pharmaceutical organizations, including serving on the Medical Insurance Policy Committee and the Education and Training Committee of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association. In addition, she served as a member of the Steering Committee of Yaksa Gongnon and as president of the Hyoyakhoe Alumni Association of Daegu Catholic University in Seoul. She has also served as a judge for the National Art Exhibition of Korea (Kukjeon). Her published poetry collection is Starlight Under the Microscope.

A Universe in a Single Pill

A small white planet, no bigger than a grain,

rests in the palm of my hand.

With a sip of water, it travels into the body

and disappears.

Dissolving in the stomach,

crossing the intestinal wall,

it boards the red current of the bloodstream.

At the doors of countless cells,

its invisible journey continues

until it finds the one door that is meant for it.

Too much of a medicine becomes a poison

too little may never reach its destination.

On the very narrow border where medicine and poison

are given different names,

the weight of a single pill can determine the measure of life.

The liver transforms what is foreign and sends it on.

The kidneys wash away what remains.

To stay alive, the body repeats the work of taking in and letting go.

At last, where the pill has disappeared,

one person’s day begins to move again.

What we swallowed

may have been more than medicine—

perhaps it was a small universe,

precisely designed to travel toward life.

한 알의 우주

손바닥 위에 놓인

작고 흰 행성 하나

물 한 모금과 함께

몸속의 밤으로 사라진다

위에서 풀리고

장벽을 건너

붉은 혈류에 몸을 싣는다

수많은 세포의 문 앞에서

맞는 문을 만날 때까지

보이지 않는 여행은 계속된다

너무 많으면 독이 되고

너무 적으면 닿지 못한다

약과 독의 이름이 갈리는

아주 좁은 경계에서

한 알의 무게가 생명을 가늠한다

간은 낯선 것을 바꾸어 보내고

신장은 남은 것을 흘려보낸다

몸은 살기 위해

받아들이고 내보내는 일을 되풀이한다

마침내 한 알이 사라진 자리

한 사람의 하루가 다시 움직인다

우리가 삼킨 것은

어쩌면 약이 아니라

생명을 향해 정교하게 설계된

작은 우주였는지도 모른다.

_____________________ 

Read: Gandhi’s Walking Stick – Korean Poetry

The post A Universe in a Single Pill first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Former Supreme Court Justice Kim Jae-hyung and Professor Kweon Tae-sang propose practical guidelines based on an empirical analysis of court rulings, offering newsrooms a framework for balancing press freedom with personality rights

Who is a public figure?

A president or Member of Parliament clearly qualifies. But what about a business executive, celebrity, athlete or YouTuber with millions of followers? And how far should the media be allowed to go in reporting on their spouses, children or partners?

These are not questions unique to South Korea. Newsrooms everywhere confront the same tension between the public’s right to know and an individual’s rights to reputation, privacy and dignity. In the age of social media, where an ordinary person can become internationally known almost overnight, the boundary has become even harder to draw.

Two South Korean legal scholars have proposed a framework that deserves attention beyond Korea.

Kim Jae-hyung, professor at Seoul National University School of Law and a former justice of the Supreme Court of Korea, and Kweon Tae-sang, professor at Ewha Woman’s University School of Law, published a 60-page study, “Criteria for Determining the Unlawfulness of Personality Rights Infringements Arising from Media Coverage of Public Figures,” in the August 2026 issue of Justice, a journal published by the Korean Legal Center.

What makes their work particularly useful for journalists is that it does not stop at legal theory. The authors examine court decisions empirically and statistically, then translate their findings into practical guidelines that journalists can consider before publication.

A public figure is not simply a famous person

The researchers begin by changing the question.

Instead of asking simply, “Who is a public figure?” they ask why reporting on certain people should be treated differently from reporting on private individuals.

They define public figures broadly as people about whom there is a substantial public interest in reporting, considering their social position, role and influence.

They then identify three principal factors for determining public-figure status: *voluntariness, public relevance and fame*.

These factors are not intended as a mechanical checklist. They interact. The stronger and more numerous the factors, the greater the justification may be for giving freedom of expression wider scope.

Of particular significance is the distinction between public relevance and mere fame.

A politician exercising governmental authority and a famous actor discussing family life may both be widely known, but the public interest in scrutinizing them is not necessarily the same. Likewise, an influencer with millions of followers does not automatically surrender all rights to privacy simply by being famous.

That distinction has relevance far beyond Korea.

What the courts actually show

Another strength of the research is its use of empirical evidence.

Using court-decision data analyzed by Korea’s Press Arbitration Commission, the study found that in defamation cases from 2021 through 2023, public figures obtained at least a partial victory in 77 of 193 cases, or 39.8 percent. Private individuals prevailed in 73 of 143 cases, or 51 percent.

The difference was even greater in damages claims: public figures succeeded in 31.3 percent of cases, compared with 50 percent for private individuals.

The numbers suggest that Korean courts already tend to allow broader freedom of expression when reporting concerns public figures.

But this does not mean that anything may be reported about someone once that person is classified as a public figure.

Public-figure status is only one consideration.

The proposed framework also asks courts — and journalists — to consider the public interest of the information itself, the benefits of publication versus the harm inflicted on the individual, urgency and timeliness, the reliability of sources, and the form and manner in which the information is reported.

Turning a courtroom test into a newsroom question

This is where the Korean proposal becomes particularly relevant internationally.

Courts usually make these judgments after publication. An article is published, a person claims that reputation or privacy has been violated, and a judge subsequently weighs freedom of expression against personality rights.

Kim and Kweon propose moving those questions upstream — into the newsroom before publication.

A reporter or editor could ask:

Why is this person subject to public scrutiny?

Does this particular information genuinely serve the public interest?

Does the social value of publication outweigh the harm to the individual?

Are the sources sufficiently reliable?

Could the same information be reported in a less intrusive way?

None of these questions is uniquely Korean.

They can be asked by a reporter investigating a politician in Seoul, a corporate executive in New York, a celebrity in Tokyo, an athlete in Paris or an influencer in New Delhi.

Not a restriction on press freedom

The term “reporting guidelines” can sound like another set of restrictions on journalists. The logic of this proposal, however, points in a different direction.

A clear and reasonable framework can strengthen press freedom by helping journalists explain why intrusive reporting is justified.

Kim has spent decades examining the tension between freedom of expression and personality rights from several different positions — as a judge, legal scholar, Supreme Court justice and chairman of the Korea Press Ethics Commission.

His engagement with the public-figure question dates back more than three decades. In 1995, while serving as a judge, he wrote the judgment in a case involving the novel The Rose of Sharon Has Bloomed, whose fictional narrative drew upon the life of Korean physicist Lee Whiso. The decision has been described as the first Korean judgment to use the concept of a “public figure” or “public person.”

More than 30 years later, the media environment has changed radically.

Political leaders and senior officials are no longer the only people capable of exercising enormous public influence. Business leaders, athletes, entertainers, creators and influencers can command audiences larger than those of traditional newspapers or broadcasters.

At the same time, YouTube channels and social-media accounts can perform functions once largely reserved for professional news organizations.

The central question is therefore increasingly not simply who is a journalist, but *what responsibility accompanies the act of communicating information to a mass public*.

From a Korean guideline to a global newsroom tool

Legal systems differ. The constitutional protection of speech, defamation law and privacy rules in South Korea are not identical to those in the United States, Europe, Japan, India or elsewhere.

The Korean framework should therefore not simply be transplanted into another legal system.

Its underlying reasoning, however, travels well.

People who voluntarily exercise significant public influence should generally face greater scrutiny. Fame alone should not erase privacy. The public value of information should be weighed against the harm caused by publication. Source reliability and reporting methods should matter.

These are not uniquely Korean principles. They are questions at the heart of responsible journalism.

And in the age of AI and social media, the issue is becoming global. Once information is published, it can cross borders within seconds. Journalists are no longer the only actors capable of causing enormous reputational harm — or exposing wrongdoing of enormous public importance.

The guidelines proposed by Kim and Kweon could therefore be examined by news organizations, journalism schools, press councils and journalists’ associations outside Korea, adapted where necessary to their own laws and professional traditions.

They could also provide a useful starting point for an international discussion about common principles for reporting on public figures.

Ultimately, the most important question for a journalist before publication may be surprisingly simple:

Not “How famous is this person?” but “Why does the public need to know this?”

A newsroom that can answer that question persuasively is in a stronger position both to defend press freedom and to respect human dignity.

A reporting framework developed in Korea need not remain a Korean framework.

Read: Investigative Journalism Shields Human Rights

______________

Courtesy: The AsiaN, Seoul, South Korea

The post Rethinking How Media Covers Public Figures first appeared on Sindh Courier.

With a humble walking stick in his hand,

He faced an empire with the courage of peace.

Park Sung-jin (South Korea)

Poet Park Sung-jin is also 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.

Gandhi’s Walking Stick

Gandhi faced the empire with no weapon in his hands.

With a humble walking stick in his hand,

He faced an empire with the courage of peace.

Because he believed

That no sword is mightier than the human conscience.

Today,

Standing before the Demilitarized Zone, I think:

It was not steel, but the human heart,

That divided our people with barbed wire.

Hatred deepens division,

While love opens a path.

The wind from Mount Baekdu

Blows without rest all the way to Mount Halla,

So why are the hearts of one people!

Still closed to one another?

Mahatma Gandhi’s walking stick seems to whisper.

If peace walks ahead,

Reunification will follow in its footsteps.

Someday,

A fiery dawn

Will rise over the Korean Peninsula.

간디의 지팡이

간디는 총을 들지 않았다

작은 지팡이 하나로

거대한 제국과 맞섰다

칼보다 강한 것은

사람의 양심임을 믿었기 때문이다

오늘 나는

휴전선 앞에 서서 생각한다

철조망을 자르는 것은

강철이 아니라 마음이라고

증오는 분단을 키우고

사랑은 길을 만든다

백두산의 바람은

한라산까지 쉬지 않고 불어오는데

왜 한 겨레의 마음은

서로를 향해 닫혀 있는가

간디의 지팡이는 말한다

평화가 먼저 걸어가면

통일은 그 뒤를 따라온다고

언젠가 한반도에도

불같은 새벽이 밝아오리라

***

From Baekdu to Halla

The snowmelt from Mount Baekdu

Still make their way to the sea today,

Today, my heart too

Flows toward reunification.

 The barbed wire tried to divide the mountains,

And even sought to hold back the rivers,

But the wind knows no borders,

And the clouds carry no permits.

 One moon shines

Upon both North and South.

Yet only we, the people, have spent half a century

Turning away from one another.

 Upon the broken railway tracks, only rusted time continues to gather,

While our longing, crossing half a century, still flows like a river today.

And at last, from Baekdu to Halla,

One flag will wave in the wind.

백두에서 한라까지

백두산 눈 녹은 물은

오늘도 바다를 찾아가고

내 마음도 오늘

통일을 향해 흐른다

철조망은 산을 가르고

강물마저 막으려 했지만

 바람은 국경을 모르고

구름은 허가증이 없다

북녘의 달빛과

남녘의 달빛은 하나인데

 사람만 서로를 향해

반세기를 돌아왔다

끊어진 철길 위에

녹슨 시간만 쌓여가고

 그리움은 반세기를 넘어

오늘도 강처럼 흐른다

마침내 백두에서 한라까지

하나의 국기가 바람에 펄럭이리라.

____________________

Read: Cherry Blossom Lanterns – Korean Poetry

The post Gandhi’s Walking Stick – Korean Poetry first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Is it to teach us to seize the fleeting moment and live as though it were eternity?

Poet Choi Gyu-hak

Choi Gyu-hak is a distinguished Korean poet, educator, and literary leader who has made significant contributions to both literature and education in Chungcheongnam-do Province, South Korea. He currently serves as President of the Buyeo Writers Association, Vice President of the Chungnam Writers Association, Member of the Literary Life Promotion Committee of the Korean Writers’ Association, and Vice President of the Korean Public Servants Literary Association. He previously served as Head of the Buyeo Branch of the Sijo Society under the Korean Writers’ Association, Principal of Buyeo High School, and Adjunct Professor at Kongju National University. Choi made his literary debut as a poet through Changjo Munhak (Creative Literature) in 2016. In 2021, he further established himself as a sijo poet through both Changjo Munhak and Sijo Sarang (Love of Sijo), actively engaging in creative writing that embraces both modern poetry and the traditional Korean sijo form. His works are widely appreciated for their harmonious blend of lyrical beauty and philosophical reflection, grounded in profound insights into nature, humanity, life, and love. His major publications include the sijo collections Moon Shadow (Dalgeurimja) and The Moon Fallen into the Lake (Hosu-e Ppajin Dal), as well as the poetry collections Song of Flowers, Song of Life, Song of Love, and Song of Place. Through these works, he explores the meaning and beauty of human existence while celebrating the enduring values of love and life, leaving a lasting impression on readers. In recognition of his literary achievements, Choi has received numerous honors, including the 6th Bae Gi-jeong Literary Award, the Korea Culture and Arts Achievement Award, the Chungnam Culture and Arts Grand Prize, and the Culture & People Author of the Month Award. Through his dedication to poetry and sijo, his leadership in literary organizations, and his commitment to nurturing future generations of writers, Choi Gyu-hak is regarded as a respected senior literary figure who continues to contribute to the advancement of contemporary Korean literature.

Cherry Blossom Lanterns

Upon a pitch-black wick, a lantern burns in white flame,

Though not quite enlightenment, it brightens the heart’s own light.

Even the mountain birds, long unnoticed, awaken with a start.

The streetlamps that illumine the night road are flowers too,

Yet these blossoms illumine an inner realm where no celestial light has ever trod.

Along the cherry-blossom path, the shadows of passersby glow softly.

Why does the lantern lit by flowers extinguish so swiftly?

Is it to teach us to seize the fleeting moment and live as though it were eternity?

When I turn back in lingering regret, black fruits shimmer quietly in the dark.

  벚꽃 등불

시커먼 심지 위에 하얗게 타는 등불

깨달음 아니어도 마음 빛 밝아진다

무심코 보던 산새도 화들짝 깨어난다

밤길을 밝혀주는 가로등도 꽃이지만

별빛이 닿지 않는 마음 한 칸 불 밝힌다

벚꽃 길 지나는 사람 그림자도 환하다

꽃으로 밝힌 등불을 곧바로 끄는 뜻은

순간을 거머잡고 영원을 살란 건가

아쉬워 뒤돌아보니 까만 열매 반짝인다

***

Moon’s Shadow

My heart, a clear lake, becomes a mirror.

Though the sun, stars, clouds, and flowers

Take turns appearing upon its surface,

it will hold only your apparition,

Shining white against the night sky.

달그림자

내 가슴 맑은 호수 거울이 따로 없다

해와 별 구름 꽃이 번갈아 비쳐와도

밤하늘 하얗게 빛난 네 환영만 담으리

***

The Scripture Without Words

Shall I call it an apple, or shall I call it fruit?

Shall I call it a fountain, or shall I call it water?

Though they seem different, all are one,

So let me call them mind.

Dew upon a blade of grass vanishes beneath the sun.

Neither truly existing, nor truly nonexistent,

All things throughout the universe

Are a scripture without words.

Seen through the eyes of wisdom, everything is but a shadow.

When wildflowers bloom, the hillside grows bright.

Let us all, here upon this hillside, tend the trees that bear flowers.

글씨 없는 경전

사과라 부르리까 과일이라 부르리까

분수라 부르리까 물이라 부르리까

다른 듯 모두 같으니 마음이라 부르리

풀잎에 맺힌 이슬 햇살에 스러지네

있지도 아니하고 없지도 아니하니

온 우주 삼라만상이 글씨 없는 경전이다

지혜로 바라보니 모든 것이 그림자다

들꽃이 피어나면 언덕이 환해진다

우리 다 이 언덕에서 꽃나무를 가꾸자

__________________ 

Read: My Star, Spica – Poetry from Korea

The post Cherry Blossom Lanterns – Korean Poetry first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Have I come to look at you!

Oh Sowho

 Oh Sowho is a Korean poet, translator, poetry reciter, and literary educator based in Gwangju, South Korea. She earned a B.A. in English Literature from Chonnam National University and an M.A. in Korean Language and Literature from Honam University. She made her literary debut in 1993 through the Korean literary magazine Literary Space and gained wider recognition in 2001 when she was selected as a winner in the poetry category of the Mudeung Ilbo New Year Literary Contest. She is the author of five poetry collections, including Jomkkotmari (2005), Permeation, A Dot of Blue, Walking with My Schwabing, and her fifth collection, Meditating on Erik Satie and a White Stone (2022). She also published the Korean-English bilingual poetry collection I Am a Flower (2010). From 2001 to 2015, she served as an adjunct professor at Jeonnam Science College. She has also worked as a poetry recitation instructor, literary judge, translation editor, and university lecturer. She served as the head of the Korean-English Translation Team of International PEN Gwangju and has participated extensively in international literary exchanges, poetry exhibitions, and cultural programs. Her literary honors include the International PEN Gwangju Literary Award, Gwangju Literary Award, Digital Literature Prize, Kang Hang Literary Prize, and several other national poetry awards. She has also received multiple creative grants from regional and national arts foundations in Korea.

My Star, Spica

Only from this distance

Have I come to look at you!

On a spring evening, in the southern sky,

Deep within the constellation Virgo, my star burns with a blue-white light.

When you were close,

I never understood

That you were farther than I had thought,

That you were brighter than I had imagined.

Only now do I look at you

As one looks upon a flower,

As one gazes up at the spring night sky.

Could it be that even eternal love!

Can only be understood

After we have grown this far apart?

Like a meteorite fallen upon a desolate field,

Like a traveler entering an unfamiliar village,

At the observatory beneath Byeongpungsan,

I can finally gaze upon you

From this far away.

나의 별, 스피카(Spica)

이만큼 떨어져서야

그대를 바라보게 되었습니다

봄날 저녁 남쪽 하늘

처녀자리 가장 깊은 곳

청빛으로 타오르는 나의 별

곁에 있을 때는 몰랐습니다

그대가 생각보다 먼 별이라는 것을

그대가 생각보다 밝은 별이라는 것을

이제야 꽃을 보듯

이제야 봄밤하늘을 우러르듯

그대를 바라봅니다

영원한 사랑도

어쩌면 이렇게

멀어져서야 알게 되는 것일까요

황량한 들판에 떨어진 운석처럼

낯선 마을에 들어선 여행자처럼

병풍산 아래 별관측소

이만큼 떨어져서야

그대를 바라보게 되었습니다

***

Let Your Pain Go

Are you troubled by a purity that is too white?

Lay it down on the coral-white sands.

Are you weary of a greed that is too black?

Lay it down on the black sands of Geommeolle.

The waves are a sewage treatment plant,

Caring neither for what is white nor what is black.

The waves are the folds of a mother’s skirt.

고통을 수거합니다

너무나 하얀 순결 때문에 고민합니까

산호백사장에다 놓아버리십시오

너무나 검은 욕심 때문에 힘드십니까

검멀레 모래밭에 놓아버리십시오

파도는 하수종말처리장입니다

흰 것도 검은 것도 상관 아니하는

파도는 어머니의 치마폭입니다

__________________ 

Read: Toward the Red – Korean Poetry

The post My Star, Spica – Poetry from Korea first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Is not to be wounded,

But to have somewhere you long, at last, to reach.

Dr. Lim Hayoung

 Poet Dr. Lim Hayoung was born in Janghang, Chungcheongnam-do, and holds a Ph.D. in engineering, embodying a unique career that bridges both academia and literature. He previously served as a professor at Woosong College and is currently active as the head of Munye Village and the vice president of Culture & People, contributing to the advancement of literature and culture.

He has achieved remarkable recognition in the field of poetry, receiving numerous prestigious awards, including the New Writer’s Award in the poetry category from the Daejeon Writers’ Association, the Contemporary Siseon Sidam Literary Grand Prize, the 2nd Poet and Culture Award, the 6th Nammyeong Poetry & Painting Exhibition Personality Award, the Sinjeong Literary Award, the UN NGO Literary Award, the Yun Dong-ju Star Literary Award, the Hall of Poetry Literary Work Award, the Kkeullim Literary Award, and the Korea Education Contribution Grand Prize, among many others. These honors demonstrate that his work has been highly regarded for both its literary excellence and social value.

In addition, he has consistently engaged in creative writing, publishing poetry collections such as The One I Long for Within Me, Stars Held in My Heart, and Winter Story, as well as a Sijo collection titled Spring Story. His works are characterized by their delicate portrayal of inner human emotions, longing, and reflections on life, establishing a broad literary world that harmonizes modern poetry with traditional Sijo.

Toward the Red

Dawn

Came first to the wall

And hung there a single red lip.

Though no one called it all night,

The flower curled into itself

And gazed for a long while into the heart of darkness.

Whenever a drop of dew

Trembles at the tip of a petal,

The names of those who have passed

Seem still to be wet.

Standing before it,

I push toward the morning

The words I have never once been able to give.

The morning glory,

Aware of its fading from the very instant it blooms,

Still raises its slender neck to the sky.

To be red

Is not to be wounded,

But to have somewhere you long, at last, to reach.

While sunlight crosses over the wall,

A small flower

Calls forth the time called today

With its whole body.

붉은 쪽으로

새벽은

담장에 먼저 와서

붉은 입술 하나를 걸어 놓았다

밤새 아무도 부르지 않았는데

꽃은 제 몸을 말아

어둠의 안쪽을 오래 들여다본다

이슬 한 방울

꽃잎 끝에서 흔들릴 때마다

지나간 이름들이

아직 젖어 있는 것처럼

나는 그 앞에 서서

한 번도 건네지 못한 말을

아침 쪽으로 밀어 보낸다

나팔꽃은

피는 순간부터 지는 쪽을 알고도

하늘을 향해 제 목을 길게 뽑는다

붉다는 것은

상처가 아니라

끝내 닿고 싶은 곳이 있다는 것

햇살이 담장을 넘는 동안

작은 꽃 하나

오늘이라는 시간을

온몸으로 불러 세운다.

***

Hands That Became Flowers

In a corner of the yard,

Moss roses bloomed

Resembling my mother’s hands.

Pink ushered in the evening,

Yellow wiped the sunlight clean,

And white folded away a silent day.

Even after my mother was gone,

The flowers did not surrender their colors.

When the wind came,

They leaned on one another’s shoulders

And called for my mother in quiet voices.

Since that day,

Whenever I look at flowers,

I know their tiny petals are the first to reach out

And take my hand.

꽃이 된 손

마당 한켠 채송화가

어머니 손을 닮아 피었다.

분홍은 저녁을 들이고

노랑은 볕을 닦고

하양은 말없는 하루를 개었다.

어머니가 떠난 뒤에도

꽃들은 제 빛을 놓지 않았다.

바람이 불면

서로의 어깨를 기대어

낮은 목소리로 어머니를 불렀다.

그날 이후

나는 꽃을 볼 때마다

작은 꽃잎들이

내 손을 먼저 잡는 것을 안다.

________________ 

Read: The Egret Orchid – Korean Poetry

The post Toward the Red – Korean Poetry first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Renewing the heart of this nation.

It is not water alone that flows,

But the everlasting tide of hope.

Lee Young-ha

Poet and former Ambassador Mr. Lee Young-ha is a literary figure who made his literary debut in 2010 through Literary Spring and Autumn (Munye Chunchu) and currently serves as an editor of the same magazine. He has been actively dedicated to promoting peace and reunification through literature, as well as fostering international literary exchange, serving as Vice President of the Korean Association of Unification Writers, a member of PEN Korea, a member of the Gyeonggi Poets’ Association, and an executive committee member of the Gyeonggi PEN Regional Committee.

A graduate of the Air Force Academy, he is a former combat pilot and a retired Lieutenant General of the Republic of Korea Air Force, with approximately 2,300 flight hours. He served as Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, contributing to the advancement of air force strategy and policy, and played a significant role in strengthening national defense and developing the Air Force through distinguished leadership in airspace defense and command positions.

After retiring from military service, he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to Lebanon, representing his country on the international diplomatic stage. In recognition of his distinguished service and contributions, he was awarded the Lebanese National Order of Merit by the Lebanese government. Drawing upon profound reflections accumulated through decades of military and diplomatic experience, he has continuously explored in his literary works such themes as human dignity, humanitarian values, division, reconciliation, and peace.

In recognition of his literary achievements, he has received numerous prestigious awards, including the First Unification Aspiration Literary Award, the Hwang Hui Prime Minister Literary and Arts Award, the Grand Prize of the Goryeo Literary Award along with an Honorary Doctorate of Literature, the Gyeonggi PEN Literary Award (Work Award), the Special Creative Award of the Korean Literature Award, the Special Work Award of the Han Yong-un Literary Award, the Yun Dong-ju Star Literary Award, and the Literary Award commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Korea and Singapore.

He currently serves as the 10th President of the Korean Association of World Literature, where he is dedicated to promoting exchange, cooperation, and mutual understanding between Korean literature and world literature.

A Letter Written on the Han River

The river carries within its currents

The sorrow of a divided land, the endless nights of war, and the dawn of peace.

As the South Han River longs for the North,

The North Han River inclines its body toward the South.

Though they flow as separate streams,

They are destined, in the end, to meet within a single river.

Whenever the lights of Seoul shimmer,

The river asks:

“Have you still not lost your dream?”

Today, once again, I stand by the river,

Rewriting the ideals that were once lost.

A single word entrusted to the current—

That is my prayer.

The Han River flows in quiet dignity,

Renewing the heart of this nation.

It is not water alone that flows,

But the everlasting tide of hope.

한강에서 쓰는 편지

강물은 기억한다.

분단의 상처, 전쟁의 밤, 그리고 평화의 새벽을.

남한강이 북녘을 그리워하듯

북한강은 남쪽으로 몸을 기울인다.

서로 다른 길을 흘러도

결국은 하나의 강으로 만나는 법.

서울의 불빛이 반짝일 때마다

강물은 묻는다.

“너희는 아직 꿈을 잃지 않았는가?”

나는 오늘도 그 강가에서

잃어버린 이상을 다시 적는다.

물결에 실려 가는 글자 하나,

그것이 나의 기도다.

한강은 오늘도 조용히 흐르며

이 나라의 심장을 씻는다.

흐르는 것은 물이 아니라

끊임없는 희망의 세월이다.

____________________

Read: Who Passes By – Poetry from Korea

The post Letter Written on Han River first appeared on Sindh Courier.

the little temple where the whole sea climbed ashore

to offer prayers for three thousand six hundred years?

 Ms. Im Sol Nae

 Poet Im Sol Nae has continued her active literary career since making her debut through the monthly literary magazine JayuMunhak in 1999. She has published six collections of poetry, including The QR Code of a Leaf, Amazon, That Transit Station, The Cry of an Awakened Amazon, Hong Nyeo, and many others. In addition to her literary achievements, she has gained wide recognition as a professional poetry reciter at numerous national events organized by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Her major appearances include Memorial Day commemorations, Righteous Army Day (June 1), the opening poetry recital for the Seoul City Hall Stream Project at the Grand Theater of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, the annual commemorative ceremony at Injeongjeon Hall of Changdeokgung Palace hosted by the Korean Imperial Household Culture Foundation, and the 120th memorial ceremony for Empress Myeongseong held at her birthplace. She also founded the Korean Federation of Poetry Recitation Associations to broaden the cultural foundation of poetry recitation in Korea. In 2011, she traveled for twenty-five days along the Tea Horse Road with avant-garde artists from around the world, drawing profound artistic inspiration from the journey. Poems inspired by this experience were later transformed into various musical genres, including jazz, traditional Korean vocal music, classical singing, and Korean art songs, and were presented through the Tea Horse Road Concert. Her literary and artistic accomplishments have been recognized through numerous honors, including the Yeongnang Literary Award, the Korean Literary Critics Association Award, the Lyric Poetry Literary Award, the 22nd Poet’s Poet Award, selection as a Sejong Excellent Book in 2014, and the 8th Buddhist Literary Writers’ Award. Poet Im Sol Nae is regarded as one of the leading artistic poets in contemporary Korea, expanding the boundaries of modern Korean poetry through her innovative fusion of poetry, recitation, music, and performance art. She currently serves as a World Ambassador of the International Academy of Ethics. Her representative works, including “Metamorphosis (羽化),” “Blue Butterfly,” “Becoming Godmother of Victoria,” “The Fireflies’ Shawshank Redemption,” “Three Souls,” “The Scarlet Light Universe” and “Sumbi Sori (Breath of the woman Diver)” have been translated and introduced in many countries around the world, including the United States, Spain, Italy, Greece, Russia, India, Nepal, Albania, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, and Jordan.

The Fish Turned to Stone

Have you ever heard of Maneosa Temple—

the little temple where the whole sea climbed ashore

to offer prayers for three thousand six hundred years?

How profound must its Dharma have been

to enchant an entire ocean into following its call?

Perhaps, too,

you know the wondrous sight beneath Maneosa—

a valley of fish clothed in monks’ robes,

their fins forever trembling,

silver scales surging toward the sermon.

As though an entire fishing boat, laden with fish, had been emptied in one sweeping pour,

over the talus, the music of water and the clear tones of stone chimes echo through the mountain slopes.

Bearing the countless lives of all beings,

the Man-eo Stones raise themselves from the earth.

When dusk gently settles upon the unhurried path that gathers tears, I enter the stones, and I too begin to flow.

O Maneosa—

an ocean without water, ink-dark waves without a voice.

Day after day, the boundless radiance of the infinite heavens.

The blue-backed worship of ten thousand fish—

the place where my wandering footsteps have longed to arrive.

돌이 된 물고기

만어사라 들어 보셨는가

바다가 통째로 올라와 삼천 육백년 치성하는

고 쬐그만 절집

얼마나 명법문이었기에

바다째 홀려 왔을까

혹,

만어사 턱밑 그 장관을 아시는지

승복 입은 물고기들의 계곡

끊임없이 지느러미 흔들며

법문에 달려 넘실거리는 은빛 비늘들

만선의 배를 통째 쏟아 부은 듯

너덜지대 물소리 석경石磬소리 산자락을 울리고

만가지 생生을 이고 지고

제 몸 일으키는 만어석萬魚石 

눈물 거두듯 재촉없는 길에 어스름 저녁이 들면

돌 속에 들어 나도 흐르네

오, 만어사

물 없는 바다 말 없는 먹빛 파도여

날마다 찬연한 천공의 무량함이여

만어의 등푸른 예배

내 떠돌던 발길 가 닿을 곳

_________________________

Read: The Egret Orchid – Korean Poetry

The post The Fish Turned to Stone first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Just stop paying attention to me.

As imperfect as I am, I’ll do all that I can.

Poet Kim Ji Heon was born in Ganggyeong, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, and graduated from the Department of Science Education at Soodo Women’s Teachers College. She made her literary debut in 1997 through the prestigious poetry journal Modern Poetics (Hyundae Sihak). Since then, she has expanded the horizons of contemporary Korean poetry through her profound lyricism and deep awareness of life. Her published poetry collections include The Road to the Next Village (Siwa Sihak), Pocket Watch (Goryeowon), Golden Flocks of Bean Geese (Literature and Boundary), The Temple of the Crape Myrtle (Sian), and She Had a Heart (Modern Poetics Featured Poets Series). Her poetry collection She Had a Heart was selected for the 2021 ARKO Literary Sharing Program, recognizing its literary excellence and public value. She received the Minerva Literary Award in 2020 and the Wildflower Literary Award in 2021. Kim Ji Heon formerly served as Editor-in-Chief of the biannual literary journal Korean Poets. She currently serves as a Director and Vice President of the Korean Poets Association.

Perfect

The quince has come through seasons of bitterness and astringency.

The grub, in its own way,

The ant, in its own way,

Has walked a lifetime to arrive here.

Words, blocked by an impenetrable wall,

Never becoming a poem, scattering at last without context.

The truth is, I never wanted to cross that wall.

Please, leave me alone.

Just stop paying attention to me.

As imperfect as I am, I’ll do all that I can.

완벽

모과는 텁텁하고 떫은 시간을 건너 왔다

굼벵이는 굼벵이대로

개미는 개미대로

일생을 걸어 도착했다

넘어 설 수 없는 두꺼운 벽에 가로막혀

끝내 시가 되지 못하고 맥락 없이 흩어지는 말들

실은 저 벽 넘어서고 싶었던 적 없었다

제발 관심 끊어줘

모자란 대로

할 만큼 해볼 테니까

____________________ 

Read: The Egret Orchid – Korean Poetry

The post Perfect – A Poem from South Korea first appeared on Sindh Courier.