© TaeHun Yoon, January 1992

If we cannot cross between North and South, then at least—let us fly!

Yi Sang*, shedding the old form of his worn wings,
cried out, “Let us fly, let us fly!”
And Min-Ki*, beyond the black letters of despair,
finally took flight—through song and dance.

When East and West
soared beyond the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall,
how could we not also fly?
Let us fly, let us fly!

If we cannot pass North to South,
then let us at least pass East to West.
If we wish to go freely
from Kaesong to Gangneung,
we must take to the air!

Up in the atmosphere,
no longer do we hear
the dialects of Gwangju or Busan,
Pyongyang or Jeju,
local words or foreign ones—
only the layered clouds of our heaving hearts.

Let us fly, let us fly!
If we cannot go North and South,
then let us rise and fall, up and down,
even in the cold.

Common words once flowed easily—
now they come only in fragments,
and even those that once promised to return
have fallen silent.

From the breath of fifty million resting souls—
whether in Gwangju or Los Angeles,
Seoul or Washington,
Sinuiju or Hawaii,
Kaesong or New York—
strange, earnest words
tremble and cry out in the dark.

Those sleepless words—
one day,
unable to wait for dawn,
spent the night wrestling with God,
murmuring, “Let us fly, let us fly…”
Ah, an old story now—

Yet still,
from the frozen tips of branches,
a fluttering sound: flap, flap!

On New Year’s morning,
let us fly high—
above every wind,
as wind itself.

* Yi Sang (이상, 李箱) was a pioneering Korean modernist poet, novelist, and artist, known for his avant-garde style and deep existential themes. His real name was Kim Hae-gyeong (김해경, 金海卿).

Brief Biography: Born: September 23, 1910, in Seoul (then under Japanese colonial rule), Died: April 17, 1937, in Tokyo, at age 26, Pen Name: 이상 (Yi Sang), written in Hanja as 李箱, Education: Trained as an architect at Gyeongseong Industrial High School,Occupations: Architect, poet, novelist, painter, café owner.

* Kim Min-Ki (김민기, 金敏基) was a legendary South Korean singer-songwriter, composer, and playwright, best known for his role in shaping Korean protest music and theater. He passed away on July 21, 2024, at the age of 73.

Life and Legacy: Born: March 31, 1951, in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, Education: Studied fine arts at Seoul National University, Died: July 21, 2024, in Seoul, from stomach cancer, Kim Min-Ki rose to prominence in the early 1970s with his iconic song “Morning Dew” (아침이슬), which became a powerful anthem for Korea’s pro-democracy movement. Originally performed by Yang Hee-eun, the song was later banned by the authoritarian regime due to its symbolic resistance.