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I have now seen the poetry of ethnic Koreans living in China, focusing on how their national consciousness and country view are presented in the works. Lee Sang Gak, who is from Yang-gu, Gangwon Province, taking Korean traditional costume and the sound of fulling cloth as his poetic subject matter, is the one who makes clear his own thoughts and feelings of hometown. His works such as ‘Swan’s People’ or ‘Flower Smell of the Rose of Sharon’ are the products of his national consciousness to the bone, showing the dream of the unification between two Koreas. Kim Hak-Cheon published his collection of poetry first in Chinese and then in Korean. He is often proud of his Chinese nationality and truly takes part in praising Roebong. Looking down at the mountains and streams of China and its historic sites from the airplane, he feels proud of it. However, he sometimes reveals his national consciousness, calling ethnic Koreans living in China ‘the white-clad folk.’ The poet is rather confused about his national identity. But this confusion is what he has to go through as far as he lives in China as a member of ethnic minority. I see that confusion might be the truest inner image of ethnic Koreans living in China.
Seok-Hwa, among ethnic Korean poets living in China, suffers from the fact that she is living in China. She is proud of Hangeul and ‘we’, but she comes into conflict with difficulties in confirming and acquiring her own identity. It is not an apple nor a pear but ‘Yeonbyun appple-pear’ that symbolically shows her conflicts. Besides, Kim Young-Ae feels sorry for the fact that ethnic Koreans living in China are getting assimilated into the Chinese culture and customs. Mo Dong-Phil expresses love of his mother country Chosun and his mother tongue Hangeul. In contrast, Kang Hyo-Sam regards his mother country as China and he is happy with his hometown, Manchuria. Looking at the national consciousness and country view in the works of these poets, I see that each of them firmly stands on their own and seems to be rather skeptical as well. Some think of their country as Chosun or say China, though their blood originates from ethnic Koreans living in China. I would say that these conflicts and confusion are most honestly telling us about the identity of ethnic Koreans living in China.