When and where is the symposium?

The Ttangkkeut Pilgrimage Literature Museum in Haenam County, South Jeolla Province, will hold a national academic symposium on October 31 in the first-floor lobby of the museum, according to Yonhap News. The event focuses on the poetic and cultural value of the foil poems left by Kim Nam-joo.

What are the foil poems?

While imprisoned, when pen and paper were not allowed, Kim Nam-joo engraved poems with a sharp tool onto the inner foil of milk cartons. The works show both his literary voice and the creative conditions of the 1980s.

What is on the program?

The program opens with a poetry reading play by Theatre Saesae and a writers' talk, 'The Kim Nam-joo I Met,' featuring Kim Hyung-soo, Ko Hyung-ryul and Kang Hyung-cheol. Poet Do Jong-hwan, former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will give the keynote. Poet Baek Ae-song will moderate.

For international fans

Kim Nam-joo was born in Samsan-myeon, Haenam, and in June 2026 he was posthumously awarded the Order of Mooran. In September 2026 he was acquitted in a retrial of the Namminjeon case, a 1970s-era underground group case in South Korea. The museum received about 600 of his belongings from his family in 2024.