culture

A novel published in Chongnyon Munhak (literature of young people) magazine in 1956 caused a great sensation among the readers.

It raised the question of whether it is “weapons or men” that decide the outcome of a war and told the story in a realistic way.

It was short novel “Second Answer”.

The author was an ordinary soldier, and reportedly he wrote the novel in a hospital bed, rather than at a desk.

He is Sok Yun Gi, who later became a popular writer.

Born in the days of the Japanese imperialists’ military occupation of Korea, he keenly realized through his own experience that there is neither dignity nor happiness as a human without a genuine homeland.

That is why he joined the army when the US imperialists provoked a war in 1950. He was featured in a frontline newspaper as a “brave transportation soldier” and a “heroic driver” after successfully carrying out a long and dangerous transport mission through the gunfire of the enemy.

He fell unconscious while shouting hurrah at the top of his voice with his comrades-in-arms after hearing the news of the war victory in July 1953. Many of his ribs were broken, with three already cut out, and his spine, which had suffered a severe blow, was in a dangerous condition.

He fought till the day of victory, hiding his critical condition.

Sok, who was then confined to the hospital bed, began writing literary works on the basis of his experiences during the war.

He wrote while lying on his belly, on his side and on his back.

Thus, he completed his maiden work, short novel “Second Answer”.

He went on to write medium-length novel “Soldiers” excellently. After recovering health, he became a professional writer and produced many works, including full-length novels “Birth of Era” on the theme of the Fatherland Liberation War and “Luxuriant Sunflowers” depicting the period of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle.

He adapted the immortal classic work “The Sea of Blood” into a novel and wrote a film script about a female nurse of the People’s Army who fought heroically during the war.

He won the love of the people by writing full-length novels “The Arduous March”, “On the Tuman River”, “The Earth Is Green” and “Spring Thunder” belonging to the cycle of novels “Immortal History”, which dealt with the history of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle of President Kim Il Sung, in succession.

The remains of Sok Yun Gi, winner of Order of Kim Il Sung and Kim Il Sung Prize and Labour Hero, were buried at the Patriotic Martyrs Cemetery in Sinmi-ri.