Cherkovski, Neeli; Crowe, Thomas Rain

Original Event Flyer: Free Kim Chi Ha!

San Francisco, CA: S.F. Poets Against Repression in South Korea, 1976. First Edition. “The oppressed peoples can liberate themselves only through struggle. This is a simple and clear truth confirmed by history.”--Kim Il-Sung. Kim Chi Ha (1941–2022), born Kim Yeongil, was a South Korean poet and playwright. As a student, Kim participated in the April Revolution which saw the toppling of the oppressive regime of Syngman Rhee (1875–1965) in April of 1960. A young political activist and poet, Kim took on the pseudonym “Kim Jiha” (Kim Chi Ha) to publish radical poetry in underground Korean literary magazines and journals– “Jiha” meaning “underground.” Kim went on to take part in the protests against the “Normalization Treaty” that sought to establish diplomatic ties to Japan, ending in his first arrest. While he continued to publish clandestinely, it wouldn't be until 1970 when he’d come to widespread attention. His poem The Five Bandits was an incisive, vicious, polemic against the “five traitors” who signed the treaty turning Korea into a Japanese protectorate in 1905. The poem was published in May 1970 and General Park Chung Hee (1917–1979) came to power in a coup d'etat in May 1961. One of the "five bandits" is described as a general who is a great Japanophile and who began his military career fighting for the Japanese in World War II; the character of the general was clearly supposed to be General Park, who was often expressed his admiration for Japanese militarism and who like the unnamed general fought for Japan in World War II, which is why the poem was promptly banned and Kim arrested under draconian anti-communist laws. After accusing the regime of extracting false confessions with the use of torture, he was tried and sentenced to death in 1974, which was commuted to a life sentence and eventual release following a public outcry. When he further accused the government of using torture to get confessions in the 1974 People's Revolutionary Party case (South Korea’s brand of McCarthyism), he was once again sent to prison and his life sentence renewed. Offered today is the 1976 political statement by the San Francisco Poets Against Repression in South Korea, FREE KIM CHI HA!. Comprised, primarily, of Neeli Cherkovski (1945–2024), and Thomas Dawson, a.k.a., Thomas Rain Crowe (b. 1949), the S.F. Poets Against Repression of South Korea wrote this statement in support of their “brother poet” Kim Chi Ha. Decrying the backwards, oppressive regime of Park Chung Hee, and tides of fascism, this statement takes an unequivocal stance of solidarity with Kim and demands his freedom. A moving show of support and an often overlooked piece of Second San Francisco Renaissance history, this statement is as unique and radical as it is rare! From the archive of Thomas Rain Crowe, the legendary American poet and co-authorial founder of the Second San Francisco Renaissance. For more information on the Thomas Rain Crowe archive (assembled & curated by Third Mind Books), see our book Starting From San Francisco: Thomas Rain Crowe in Conversation with Third Mind Books (item #3071) & the catalog for the Crowe archive (see item #1010), which contains several excerpts and quotations from the book as well as a full listing of the archive’s contents, which are now being offered for sale individually on the Third Mind Books site. Single sheet. First & presumably only printing. In very fine condition with only a small tear at top left side from where a staple was removed. Very Fine. [Item #7283]

Price: $60.00