Kim Ŏk

Kim Ok was a pivotal Korean translator who introduced the influential French Symbolist movement to Korean poetry in the early 20th century. He translated works by poets such as Paul Verlaine, Rémy de Gourmont, and Stéphane Mallarmé, contrasting their styles with the prevailing didacticism and rhetoric of the time. Kim Ok's translations, particularly his collection Onoe ŭi mudo (1921; "Dance of Anguish"), resonated with poets grappling with the frustration and despair following the failed independence movement from Japan. His work helped pave the way for the development of free verse in Korean literature.1