Published by the Gwangju International Center since 2001
Spring is already in the pipeline. Avian messengers cum couriers of the season will soon appear in our skies. Among other birds of that ilk, swallows will be sighted here and there, almost always in pairs. As birds go, they are exceptionally smart. Smart enough to be able to fly across seemingly endless stretches of ferocious ocean.
There’s a lot to celebrate in the Republic in August: the end of the War in the Pacific (WWII), the liberation of the Korean Peninsula, and the birth of the Republic of Korea.
Many Korean Buddhist monks were active in the independence movement during Japanese colonial rule. Han Yong-woon was a monk resistor who also wrote political poetry. Here is a poem from his collection of the same name.
Korean Independence Movement Day has been called Korea’s “Easter Rising” and holds a powerful significance for Koreans as a day to celebrate its nation’s independence from all foreign powers.
