[Comprehensive] Poet Kim Jiha of 'Taneun Mokmareum-euro' Passes Away

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Poet Kim Jiha, known for works such as "With 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 in Mokpo, Jeonnam, the late poet 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." As a leading resistance poet during the Yushin era, he was imprisoned in 1970 due to his satirical poem "Five Bandits."

In 1974, he was involved in the Mincheonghakryeon incident, arrested that year, sentenced to death, but later commuted to life imprisonment and was released in 1980 under a suspension of sentence.

Since the 1980s, he devoted himself to establishing the life philosophy of Huchon Gaebyeok and produced many poems with imagination encompassing both tradition and modernity.

In 1991, after Myongji University student Kang Kyung-dae died from police violence and subsequent self-immolations in protest, Kim Jiha wrote a controversial column titled "Stop the Death Ritual" in the Chosun Ilbo, which sparked debate and led to criticism from the progressive camp labeling him a "traitor."

He married Kim Young-joo, daughter of novelist Park Kyung-ni, in 1973.

He 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 Ji-yong Literary Award, Daesan Literary Award, 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.