Yun Dong-ju, a poet of the utmost purity, beauty, and sincerity, was born and nurtured in northern Manchuria during Korea’s colonial period. His posthumously published collection of poems, Sky, Wind, Stars, and Poems, is one of Korean readers’ all-time favourites. I suffered, even when the breeze shook the leaves, since I didn’t want to have even a grain of shame toward heaven until the day I died. (Excerpt from the Foreword) His poetry sing of his love for his people, his compassion for the impoverished and destitute, and his wishes for freedom and independence in simple diction and clear emotions. These ideas continue to reverberate in the Korean people’s minds. In 1945, he was imprisoned and died as a result of his confinement.
