Heart's agony

by Kim, Chi-ha

Born in South Korea in 1941, Chiha Kim was first imprisoned in 1964 and sentenced to death in 1974. His crime: writing poetry that provoked the military government of Chunghee Park. Worldwide efforts to save him were begun in Japan, where his work had first been published. His sentence was commuted in 1980 following the assassination of Park and the downfall of his regime, a demise Kim had predicted. A legendary figure is South Korea, Chiha Kim won the Lotus Prize, generally regarded as the Third World's Nobel Prize, while imprisoned in 1975. Heart's Agony gathers poetry from all phases of his career, including poems that led to his imprisonment and torture and those written from prison. Author of eight volumes of poetry, Chiha Kim was nominated for the Nobel Prize in both Peace and Literature in 1975.