Meeting Kim Woojin, Pioneer of Modern Theater, Again... 100th Anniversary Commemoration Event

Four Handwritten Manuscripts Including "Nanpa" Registered as National Cultural Heritage
Literary Concert and Storytelling Event to be Held on August 29 at Mokpo Literature Center

To mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Kim Woojin (1897–1926), a pioneer of modern theater, an event highlighting his literary world will be held in Mokpo.

Poster for the 100th Anniversary Memorial Event for Kim Woojin, hosted by the National Museum of Modern Korean Literature and the Mokpo Literature Museum on the 29th at the Mokpo Literature Museum. Special exhibitions of handwritten manuscripts registered as National Registered Cultural Heritage, including "Nanpa," as well as literary concerts and literary musicals will be held. National Museum of Modern Korean Literature

The National Korean Literature Center announced on August 18 that it will co-host an event with the Mokpo Literature Center on August 29 at 4 p.m. at the Mokpo Literature Center, commemorating the registration of Kim Woojin’s handwritten manuscripts as National Registered Cultural Heritage and the centenary of his passing.

Four of Kim Woojin’s handwritten manuscripts—his plays "Disillusionment of Poet Dudeok," "Lee Young-nyeo," "Nanpa," and "Wild Boar"—were registered as National Registered Cultural Heritage last year. Recognized for their significance in the history of modern Korean theater and literature, these manuscripts will be showcased in a special exhibition at Mokpo Literature Center in conjunction with the event.

A literary concert will also take place. The Mokpo City Choir will open the stage with "Reopening the Brilliant Gate of Kim Woojin Through Song" and will present a newly composed piece titled "Youth," inspired by Kim Woojin’s poetry. The theater company Yechangjak Daham will stage the literary musical "Nanpa – Youth 1926," a contemporary reinterpretation of Kim Woojin's representative play "Nanpa."

Students and faculty from Mokpo National University’s Department of Korean Language and Literature will conduct a storytelling program introducing Kim Woojin’s life and literary legacy. In September, experiential programs and literary lectures themed on Kim Woojin's literature will continue, in connection with the “Korea Literature Festival.”

Im Hun-young, director of the National Korean Literature Center, remarked, "Kim Woojin was a trailblazer who was the first to bring the grammar of modern theater into our literature. This event will be a meaningful occasion to revisit the region’s precious literary heritage and share its value with the public."

The event is open to everyone. In addition, the National Korean Literature Center has selected Kim Woojin as the featured writer for August in its "Literary Figures of the Month" series published on its official website, introducing his literary world.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.