재북시인 민병균 연구

Abstract

Byung Kyoon Min began writing poems in North Korea in the 1930s and remained in North Korea after the Korean Independence to lead North Korea’s literature sector after Korea’s division. He made positive contributions to establishing new themes and genres of poetry in North Korea’s literature. This study focused on exploring his life and importance in North Korea’s literature. For this purpose, substantial facts were gathered from various resources. North Korea divides its history of literature after Korea’s division into 1) post-independence establishment, 2) the Korean War period, and 3) post-war recovery and socialist foundation. Byung Kyoon Min’s Poetry Collection, published in 1958, classifies poetry according to these three periods of North Korea’s literature. This study examined how his poetry changed in each period and concluded that Byung Kyoon Min complied with the government’s literature policies and lead the country’s history of literature. In this respect, examining this poet related to understanding foundation and development of North Korea’s literature. Most studies on North Korean literature focus on the flow of development and modern literature. It is mostly because it is very difficult to find resources on North Korean literature. Therefore, we lack studies on poets from the late 1940s and the 1950s when North Korean literature formed and developed. This study is significant because it closely examined the poetic creations of one of North Korean poets who were active in the field. In the future, it would be necessary to expand the scope of studies on North Korean poets and poetry for better understanding of North Korean literature.