Mr. Kang Byeong Cheol is a Korean author, poet, translator, and holder of a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science degree. He was born in Jeju City, South Korea in 1964, and began his writing career in 1993. His first short story, “Song of Shuba,” was published when he was twenty-nine years old. In 2005, Kang published a collection of short stories and has since won four literature awards, publishing over eight books in total. He was a member of The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International from 2009 to 2014. From 2018 to 2022, he served as Secretary General of the Jeju Unification Education Center. Prior to that, he was a Specially Appointed Professor at Jeju International University from 2016 to 2018, a Research Professor at Chungnam National University National Defense Institute from 2013 to 2016, a Senior Researcher at the Society of Ieodo Research from 2010 to 2017, and CEO of Online News Media Jejuin News from 2010 to 2013.
Kang also works as an editorial writer for Jeminilbo, a newspaper in Jeju City, Korea. Currently, he holds the position of Vice President at The Korean Institute for Peace and Cooperation.
ROSES BLOOMING ON THE FENCE
Roses blooming on the fence,
With shine of pink and vibrant red,
Competing yet harmonious,
Humanity, a mysterious being, has forgotten the wisdom of peace.
Oh, May’s beautiful roses, how shall we
Recall the memory of peace and achieve harmony?
We must listen to each other’s opinions,
Respect and understand one another,
Through dialogue and empathy,
We must pave the path to peace and harmony,
I don’t want to hear about the war news anymore
By forgiveness and tolerance,
Resolving conflicts and embracing cooperation,
Let the rose vines find harmony,
Reminding us of the wisdom of peace.
Through education and awareness,
Planting seeds of peaceful values and actions,
Let us strive for peace,
Just as the roses bestow their beauty.
As diverse colors of roses unite,
Creating a greater beauty to behold,
Let us remember that harmony and peace
Are gifts that nature presents,
O May’s roses blooming on the fence,
That is the harmonious gift of nature we embrace.
SAVIOR OF MELANCHOLIA AND LONELINESS
What is it to live?
Walking, standing, sitting, lying down,
all the movements of daily life.
But within life, there are emotions.
Where do these emotions come from?
Echoing deep within the soul,
sadness, loneliness, joy, excitement,
these are the seeds of culture.
Through music, dance, poetry,
we express our emotions and free our souls.
These seeds of culture grow even more
through music, dance, and poetry recitals,
and have shone light on human civilization!
The mother of civilization is culture,
and the seeds of culture may have been boredom.
Long ago, people began to imagine and recite poetry
to overcome boredom.
Even now, we must recite poetry,
for it is the savior of sadness and loneliness.
INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF ALL THINGS
For a single rose to bloom,
It needs more than just a space,
Sunlight, water, minerals too,
All combined, it starts to brew.
With water vapor in the air,
It rains, the plant starts to care,
It grows and grows, day by day,
In its own interconnected way.
Existence is all intertwined,
Everything affected and amalgamated,
Bound to change in some regard,
And grow like a plant, tall and hard.
In the one, we find the whole,
And in the whole, we find the one,
All things connected, far and near,
Interwoven throughout eternity
Transcend the oppositions we must,
And strive for harmony and trust,
For humanity’s peaceful future to be,
One of unity and prosperity.