We invite you to attend the fourth lecture in connection with the exhibition Devoted Writing: Kim Yoon-sik's History of Modern Korean Literature.

- Speaker: Professor Yoo Seung-hwan (Department of Korean Language and Literature, University of Seoul)

- Title: Kim Yoon-sik and the Cold War: Kim Yoon-sik in the Context of 1987-89

- Date: Friday, November 1, 3:00 PM

- Location: Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, Exhibition Room (B1) Video Room

Professor Kim Yoon-sik has often expressed the impact that the end of the Cold War—a world-historical event marked by the fall of socialist states in 1989—had on him. As he himself mentioned, the advent of this global event that signaled the end of the Cold War brought significant shifts in his writing, which was deeply rooted in historical philosophy. Moreover, from Korea's perspective, the late 1980s not only saw the end of military dictatorship but also an overarching democratization process, which included the cultural milestone of unbanning works by writers who had defected to North Korea. This cultural shift, weakening the anti-communist censorship mechanism in Korean literary research, often left Kim Yoon-sik feeling pained, troubled, or even humiliated. Consequently, he began a serious exploration of the "liberation space" as an ideological and historical concept. In this way, the end of the Cold War and the progress of democratization in the late 1980s greatly influenced his writing.

This lecture will delve into these themes, examining the changes and developments in Kim Yoon-sik’s writing around the historical period of 1987-89, particularly in relation to his evolving perception of the Cold War.