“At the end of our lives that are becoming distant,
“I want to meet Kim Nam-joo, hold her, shake her, and cry.” ―Poet Kim Yong-taek

Poet Kim Nam-joo, who called himself a ‘warrior.’
He suffered nearly 10 years in prison for the 'Namminjeon Incident', which was recorded as the biggest public security incident in the late Yushin period, and while he was in prison, he wrote 360 ​​of the 510 poems he wrote throughout his life, and he stands as a passionate symbol in the history of Korean literature and democratization.
The trajectory of his life is vividly brought to life in 『Kim Nam-ju Biography - Have You Thrown Your Soul into the Burning Flames』, and its meaning is explored.

Author Kim Hyeong-su, a poet and novelist, traces the temporal and geographical changes of poet Kim Nam-ju from her hometown of Haenam, through Gwangju, the city of the student movement, and finally to Seoul, revealing the spiritual archetype that supported Kim Nam-ju.
It also vividly reveals the footsteps of Kim Nam-ju, a pure soul who dedicated herself to the country and the people rather than her own safety, including the intimate process of publishing the first anti-Yushin underground newspaper, 'Hamseong', and the secret publication of poems written in prison on milk cartons and aluminum foil, which were then published as a collection of prison poems.

I sometimes indulge in the absurd fantasy of how different Kim Nam-joo's life would have been if she hadn't spent her youth in Gwangju.
He was a boy who had a knack for enduring silence from an early age.
The inner calm he exuded in the shade gave his neighbors a sense of security, but his eyes were always flickering with a spark.
It gives the impression of a charcoal fire burning endlessly and quietly on Mt. Mudeung.
What is the true nature of the flame? What is the spiritual archetype of this infinitely humble yet infinitely fierce individual who suppresses all the emotions that fuel human desires, yet responds resolutely and unhesitatingly to the insults inflicted on the compassion and dignity of the marginalized? When I begin to discuss this topic, Mt. Mudeung comes to mind.

--- p.98

How could they deliver a devastating blow to Park Chung-hee? The two men were at a loss for a solution.
After much thought, I went to see my senior, Park Seok-mu, but he also didn't have a clear answer.
Senior Park, on the other hand, brought up the story of how he had produced and distributed a leaflet called 'Nokduji' a year ago, and then suddenly got excited and started talking about General Nokdu all night long.
(…) Kim Nam-joo and Lee Kang were determined to resist by any means necessary, so they needed time to reflect on history, and the most appropriate action for that seemed to be to walk through the Donghak Peasant Revolution battlefields.

--- p.164

People breathe closely and feel a sense of intimacy with the poet's figure by touching the cold paper, the psychological medium containing the poet's body heat.
But that is not an act of fighting the meanness of a violent world.
Kim Nam-joo was always on guard, knowing that such behavior could lead her into a world of self-deception.
So he has tried his best not to break away from the world he faces, which is none other than his own father, and so his strong willpower has consciously put poetry aside.
But people were completely oblivious to the fact that this was a cautious attitude towards poetry.
How arrogant is Kim Nam-joo's arrogance in looking down on the romantic sentiments and literary tastes of his time?
--- pp.229~230

Considering that the 20th century was a time of decline for monarchies and empires, the development of democracy, even if nominally, and the rise of numerous ideologies and military dictatorships, Kim Nam-ju's poetry is undoubtedly a deeply historical and spiritual legacy that penetrated the very heart of that era.
It will be a rare monument, particularly one that has assimilated the legacy of resistance poetry that emerged from the vast expanse of the Earth, while transforming the unique linguistic structure of its own land into a most tangible poetic achievement.
And we cannot fail to note that this took place in the worst place in South Korea: the special ward of Gwangju Prison.
It's amazing.

--- pp.446~447

Any art can only reach its highest level when the artist can forget ideology and technical habits and substitute reality itself for his own existence.
For this to be possible, the poet's language must first spring from the heart of the times, and for it to have the power to call countless people to the square of history, the poet's position must be close to the scene of a violent explosion, a time of political civil war.
Throughout the 20th century, 150 million souls were murdered in wars and on the direct orders of state leaders.
Kim Nam-joo's poetry crawled through the midst of that fierce battlefield, and with the "white-hot" spirit it acquired, it proved to its time that it had reached the pinnacle of contemporary sensuality.

--- p.541