Kim Jong-chul

Kim Jong-chul (18 February 1947 – 5 July 2014) was a South Korean poet. He rose to fame in 1968 when he was awarded a prize by the Hankook newspaper for his poem Sound of a Loom. In 1970 Kim won another prize with the Seoul Daily newspaper for his poem Drowned Dreams. He is considered one of the most significant modern Korean poets. Kim grew up in extreme poverty. He graduated with a degree in Korean Literature from Sorabol University of Arts in Seoul in 1970. In 1997 and 1998 he lectured poetry at PyeongTaek University. He is a member of the Society of Korean Poets and the Korean Writers Association. Among the many prizes Kim has won are the Dong-Joo Yoon Literary Prize (1990), the Nam-Myung Literary Prize (1992), the Pyun-Woon Literary Prize (1993) and the Jeong Jeong Jiyong Literature Prize(2001). Style Kim's first publications generally explored basic human emotions. These are sometimes thought to be typical of Korean poetry. Basic emotions include: disappointment, sorrow, parting, illness, or grief. These emotions are considered basic since everyone naturally lives through these emotions as part of their life. This close relationship with everyday life, as well as the subtlety of the emotions are not only a characteristic of Korean poetry, but particularly of Kim Jong-Chul. Kim is considered exceptionally talented at moving the reader's heart when writing about these basic emotions. There are critics who argue that this talent can be explained with Kim's biography which includes extreme poverty and growing up in war time. Because he was poor, Kim joined the army to serve in the Vietnam War voluntarily. He continuously showed an interest in themes such as desperation, death, or poverty. Kim distanced himself from these motifs in his second collection of poetry, which had a more light-hearted approach to life matters.