Park Nohae Park Nohae was born in 1957 in Hampyeong, South Jeolla Province. His original name was Park Gi-pyeong. While working as a laborer in various factories in his 20s, he began to reflect and write poems on the sufferings of the laboring class. He then took the pseudonym Park Nohae (No = ‘labor,’ Hae = ‘liberation’) and published his first collection of poems, 노동의 새벽 (Nodongui Saebyeok) Dawn of Labor, in 1984, under that name. Korea was at that time under the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan, with strict censorship. Despite official bans, this collection sold nearly a million copies and created intense interest. The unknown poet became an intensely symbolic figure of resistance. The government authorities tried in vain to identify and arrest him. For seven years he was active underground, helping establish the 'South Korean Socialist Workers’ Alliance' in 1989. Finally arrested in 1991, after twenty-four days of investigation, coupled with cruel, illegal torture, the prosecution demanded the death penalty for the ‘leader of an anti-state organizations’, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
While he was in prison, a second poetry collection was published, 참된 시작 (Chamduin sijak) True Beginning (1993), followed by a third, 사람만이 희망이다 (Sarmamani huimangida) Only a Person Is Hope (1997). He was finally freed after being amnestied in 1998 by President Kim Dae-Jung. Withdrawing from his previous role, he helped establish a social organization Nanum Munhwa “Culture of Sharing” with Koreans concerned with the great challenges confronting global humanity. In 2003, at the United States’ invasion of Iraq, he went with other peace activists to protect helpless civilians and promote peace. At that time, he undertook peace activities in Bagdad and in other Middle Eastern countries for 75 days. In 2006 he was in Lebanon on a similar peace-making mission and publicly opposed the dispatch of Korean combat troops to the Middle East. From the start he combined poetry-writing and photography, as he went to many countries that were suffering from wars and poverty, such as Palestine, Kurdistan, Pakistan, Aceh (Indonesia), Burma, India, Ethiopia, Sudan, Peru and Bolivia. In 2010 he held his first exhibition of photos, “Ra Wilderness,” and since then he has continued to hold exhibitions to draw public attention to global issues of poverty, human values, and warfare. In 2010 he finally published a large new collection of poems, 그러니 그대 사라지지 말아아 (Geuroni geudae sarajiji marara) So, You Must Not Disappear, on themes such as resistance, spirituality, education, living, revolution and love. Since then, while living in a remote rural community far from Seoul, he continues, with the members of “Culture of Sharing,” to hold photo exhibitions in a dedicated gallery, the Ra Café and Gallery, in Seoul, also occasionally publishing photo albums, such as 나 거기에 그들처럼 (Na geogie geudeul choreom) “Like Them, I am There,” and “Another Way.” In June 2019 a new, larger, gallery and cafe opened at 28 Jahamun-ro 10-gil, Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul (Tel. 02-379-1975). The new gallery can display nearly 40 photos at a time, each exhibition lasts 6 months or more, and the poet / photographer composes evocative captions for each photo. The entire series of photos and captions (with English translations) of each of these new exhibitions has been published as the start of a series of photo essays, 하루 "One day," 단 수하게, 단단하게, 단아하게 "Simply, Firmly, Gracefully," 길 "The Path," 내 작은 방 "My Dear Little Room," 아이들은 놀라워라 "Children Are Amazing," 올리브 나무 아래 Beneath the Olive Tree. In 2020 he published a picture book, with short poetic texts, 푸른 빛의 소녀가 The Blue Light Girl, and in 2022 he published a new poetry collection, 너의 하늘을 보아 Seeing Your Sky. In 2024 he published a collection of autobiographical essays, 눈 물꽃 소년 The Tear-Flowering Boy
When the citizens of Korea began to hold candlelight demonstrations in October, 2016, in protest at the corruption of the Korean government under Park Geun-hae, Park Nohae and the members of “Culture of Sharing” participated actively, then in 2017 they published a large album, "Candlelight Revolution," for the first anniversary. He continues to be active and to write, while efforts are now underway to make his work and writings available internationally in translation. For a fuller biography of Park Nohae please click here.
Some Very Popular Poems by Park No Hae The Dawn of
Labor
With
three wretched meals a day, If
only I could get free, Into
my drooping body, This
unavoidable wall of despair Heaven
My
family of three depends for its living on my boss, so When
I go to hospital cradling a hand crushed in the press, Carted
off to the police station for organizing a labor union
The
judges and prosecutors who can turn us into criminals
or save us The
officials High-up
people, people with power, people with wealth Can
I ever become a heaven Ah,
we too want to be a heaven. The Winter
Tree that Year
1
Winter
that year was pallid. 2
It
showed no regret, only ever-deepening shame as 3
Nobody
could say when the winter would end. Once Again
A
person full of hope A
person seeking the way A
truly good person It’s
within that person. Once
again: So You Must
Not Disappear
Has
darkness ever been so heavy, dense, and fearful? Is
that a mirage? We
are safe. The
kerosene lamp of a Q’ero youth Though
night amidst the snow-capped peaks is vast and deep, Though
today’s world is dark as pitch I
know there is a light in the world Even
if such a powerful, tenacious spirit of evil rules, Since
one last person is one first person, Life
is a miracle, So
long as you, one faint light, are still alive . . . .
So
you must not disappear. *
Ivan Illich When One Road
Ends
When
one road ends, When
one door closes, When
winter grows deep, When
I fall, The
finest end is a true beginning.
*
Helen Nearing Pakistan |