Pukyong National University

A biography book of Koh Seok-Gyu, a 'genius critic who died young' has been published

- Complete report of Koh Seok-Gyu's life and literature… Written by critic Nam Song-Woo

『Biography on Koh Seok-Gyu』 (Kookhak) has been published, which comprehensively report the life and literature of critic Koh Seok-Gyu (1932-1958), who is considered to have opened a new prospect in the study of poet Yoon Dong-Joo’s poems.

The book, published by Emeritus Professor Nam Song-Woo of Pukyong National University, draws public attention as an attempt to fully disclose the literary history of Koh Seok-Gyu's life and his poems and criticisms.

Koh Seok-Gyu, who is called 'a genius critic who died young' has been received the attention of the literature by publishing the first full-scale critique of Yoon Dong-Joo's poems, 「Spiritual Drawings of Yoon Dong-Joo」 in 1953, after Yoon Dong-Joo's death. This critique is evaluated as paving the way for research on Yoon Dong-Joo by identifying the inner consciousness, imagery, and aesthetic elements of Yoon Dong-Joo's poems as existential mode struggles to overcome the period of Japanese occupation.

In 1957, he published a series of critiques titled 「The Poet's Paradox」 from February to August of 《Literary and Art》, proving that he was a critic who made a meteoric rise in the history of Korean critics in the 1950s.

Koh Seok-Gyu, who died at the age of 26, was born in Hamheung, South Hamgyong Province, and defected to South Korea on the 25th of June and settled in Busan. While he was a student at Pusan National University, he actively engaged in coterie activities such as <Sijo>, <Sanho>, <Poetry Study>, and 『Chogeuk』, leaving a mark as an important critic in the history of Korean critics in the 1950s.

The practical discussion on Koh Seok-Gyu began in earnest in 1991 when Professor Kim Yoon-Sik published 'Spiritual sketches of Koh Seok-Gyu - The origins of his critical sensibility in the 50s' in 1991 after the publication of his post-apocalyptic essay 『The Existence of Blanks』 in 1990. Then in 1993 and 2012, 『The Complete Collection of Koh Seok-Gyu's posthumous work』 was published, and after that, seven master's and doctoral dissertations and 39 general theses were published on Koh Seok-Gyu.

Based on the data collected by Professor Nam Song-Woo by visiting Koh Seok-Gyu's family, writers who were active at the same time, and universities, the biography published this time spans a total of 11 chapters, covering his birth and life in the war, and criticism activities after he settled in Busan, marriage, and university lectures, and the import of his remarks on the history of criticism are revealed in detail.

Professor Nam Song-Woo, who published this book, is currently the chairman of the Institute for Humanistic Society and the director of The Museum of Koh Seok-Gyu Critique Literature (294 Hwalcheon-ro, Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do).

For the reason of his publication on the biography, he explained, "I decided to publish this because the traces left by Koh Seok-Gyu took on a distinctive mode and shine in the history of Korean literature in the 1950s, and his passion and practice for literature left an artistic soul that is hard to find in any other writers," he added, "I hope that his extraordinary critical spirit will continue and contribute to the development of Korean literary criticism."