▲ "When That Day Comes" included in the "Shim Hoon Poetry Collection"
Handwritten manuscripts left behind by Shim Hoon (real name Shim Dae-seop, 1901–1936), the author of the poem "When That Day Comes" and the novel "Evergreen Tree," have been unveiled.
Ahead of Liberation Day, the National Museum of Korean Literature held a press conference yesterday (August 10) at the Eunpyeong Cultural Center in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, to unveil overseas-acquired materials, showcasing literary items such as handwritten manuscripts deposited by Shim Hoon's bereaved family.
A total of 46 items spanning 59 pieces were deposited this time, including major literary materials like the handwritten manuscripts of representative full-length novels "Evergreen Tree," "The Weaving Star," and "Smile of Eternity," as well as movie scripts, alongside numerous personal history items such as photographs and a telegram announcing Shim's passing.
The museum emphasized that the collection holds high value not only in literary history but also as historical material on the anti-Japanese independence movement, as it includes the poem "When That Day Comes," which was prevented from publication as a book due to censorship under Japanese colonial rule, and "Oh, Young Men of Joseon!", reportedly written upon hearing the news of Sohn Kee-chung winning the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Shim Hoon was a novelist, poet, and journalist who represented Korean literature during the Japanese colonial period, and his literary works strongly reflect an anti-Japanese national spirit.
In 1919, while in his fourth year at Gyeongseong High School, he participated in the March First Independence Movement and suffered imprisonment.
The "Shim Hoon Poetry Collection" that has now returned to Korea is a compilation put together directly by Shim in 1932 for the publication of a book.
The "Shim Hoon Poetry Collection" contains a letter written in the author's own handwriting titled "A Note Sent to Mother from Prison," written while he was detained in Seodaemun Prison after being arrested for participating in the March First Independence Movement.
It also features "When That Day Comes," famous for its dramatic expression that on the day the motherland achieves independence, he would be so happy he would die even if he smashed his head against the bell at Jongno and broke his skull.
The cover and inner pages of the manuscript submitted to the Library of the Police Bureau of the Japanese Government-General of Joseon for publication approval are filled with red lines and red stamps, which are traces of Japanese censorship.
Director Im Heon-young emphasized the significance of the materials, stating, "Shim Hoon's 'When That Day Comes' deserves to be evaluated as the 'second Death Poem' of the Japanese colonial era, standing shoulder to shoulder with 'The Death Poem' by Maecheon Hwang Hyun from the late Korean Empire."
The materials recently deposited to the museum were previously kept by Shim Hoon's bereaved family living in the United States.
Attached throughout the deposited materials are notes left by Shim Jae-ho (1936–2021), the third son of author Shim Hoon.
Born in 1936, the year Shim Hoon passed away, he organized and spent his entire life protecting his father's literary materials without ever getting to see his father's face.
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Shim Hoon in high school
The museum discussed collecting Shim Hoon's literary materials starting in 2019, right after the establishment of the corporation, and after seven years of consultations, bore fruit by signing a deposit agreement in early June of this year.
Shim Hoon's granddaughters, Shim Young-joo and Shim Young-min, also attended the press conference via video link.
Shim Young-joo said, "These are materials that my father (Shim Jae-hoon) preserved for 50 years. My father believed that the materials had to return to the motherland, and our family has thought the same. We hope the National Museum of Korean Literature will preserve them in accordance with our grandfather's spirit."
Shim Young-min also expressed her wish, saying, "I hope that starting with this donation, more active research will take place on what kind of contribution my grandfather's works made to Korean literature."
(Photo: Yonhap News / Provided by National Museum of Korean Literature)
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