Clear Traces of Censorship... Shim Hoon's Original Manuscript of 'When That Day Comes' Revealed for the First Time

[Anchor]

The handwritten manuscript of Shim Hoon, a representative resistance poet and novelist of the Japanese colonial period, has returned to South Korea to mark the 90th anniversary of his passing. The poetry collection "When That Day Comes," which was never published during his lifetime, bears clear traces of Japanese censorship left in red.

Reporter Lee Ju-sang has the details.

[Reporter]

[Shim Seong-bo / Grandson of Shim Hoon: When that day comes, when that day comes, Bukhansan Mountain will rise and dance joyfully, and the waters of the Han River will turn over and surge—that day.]

The original title of "When That Day Comes" was "Danjangisu," meaning a sorrow so deep it feels like one's intestines are tearing.

While preparing the "Shim Hoon Poetry Collection" in 1932, Shim Hoon changed the title of this poem to "When That Day Comes," wrote it out himself, and submitted it to the Japanese Government-General of Korea for censorship.

The response from the Government-General was a red stamp reading "Deleted."

The order was to delete not just a few phrases, but the entire poem.

In the end, the poetry collection was published only in 1949, after the poet's death and following national liberation.

The manuscript, containing clear evidence of censorship and the author's handwriting, has returned to the homeland for the 90th anniversary of his passing.

[Lim Hon-young / Director, National Museum of Korean Literature: We can feel just how thorough the Japanese imperial censorship and surveillance were. You could say this is the single clearest piece that remains today.]

The manuscript had been kept by the poet's third son, Shim Jae-ho, when he immigrated to the United States, and was recently donated to the National Museum of Korean Literature.

[Shim Young-ju / Granddaughter of Shim Hoon: Our father (Shim Jae-ho) always thought it had to return to the homeland, and we always thought so too.]

His final poem, "Oh, You Young Men of Joseon!", which was hastily written by hand on the back of a newspaper extra after hearing the news of Son Kee-chung's gold medal at the Berlin Olympics about a month before his death in 1936, was also revealed for the first time.

Some 700 pages of the handwritten manuscript for his representative novel "Evergreen Tree" have returned as well.

The returned manuscripts and related materials are scheduled to be permanently exhibited at the National Museum of Korean Literature, which is set to open early next year.

(Camera Journalist: Choi Ho-jun, Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.