[3rd Report] Poet Kim Jiha of 'With Burning Thirst' Passes Away

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Poet Kim Jiha, known for works such as "Burning Thirst" and "Five Bandits," passed away on the 8th at the age of 81.

The poet died at his home in Wonju, Gangwon Province, on the afternoon of the day after battling illness for over a year.

Born in 1941, Kim graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Aesthetics and debuted in 1969 by publishing poems such as "Hwangtotgil" and "Rain" in the magazine "Poet".

In December 1970, he published his first poetry collection "Hwangto." In 1974, he was involved in the Mincheonghakryeon incident, arrested that year, sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was released in 1980 under a suspension of sentence execution.

In 1973, he married Kim Youngju, daughter of novelist Park Kyungni. He was an active resistance poet during the Yushin era and received the Lotus Prize from the Afro-Asian Writers' Conference in 1975, the Great Poet Award from the International Poets' Association in 1981, and the Bruno Kreisky Prize, among others.

He was awarded the Jeong Jiyong Literary Award, Daesan Literary Award, and Manhae Literary Award, and was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize.

The funeral will be held at the Wonju Severance Christian Hospital funeral hall.