Tohoku University celebrates Fourth Anniversary of the Monument to Kim Kirim

On Saturday, November 26, 2022, the Consulate-General of the Republic of Korea in Sendai hosted a commemorative event at Tohoku University’s Katahira Campus to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the monument to Kim Kirim, which was attended by Tohoku University Executive Vice President Toshiya Ueki.

Kim Kirim was a Korean modernist poet and critic, and an alumnus of Tohoku University, who graduated from the Department of English Literature, Faculty of Law and Letters in 1939. In November 2018, on the occasion of the 1998 Japan-Korea Joint Declaration’s 20th anniversary, a group of Japanese and Korean researchers and citizens established the monument to Kim Kirim at Tohoku University’s Katahira Campus.

Commenting on the fourth anniversary of the monument, Yunhye Cho, Deputy Consul General of the Consulate-General of the Republic of Korea in Sendai, said, “If Kim Kirim were watching this event from the sky, he would be greatly pleased that so many people are coming together to remember him. I hope that through his poetry, cultural exchange and friendship between Japan and Korea will be further developed.”

Executive Vice President Ueki expressed his delight that the monument was installed on campus four years ago. He noted that this year marks the Faculty of Law and Letters’ 100th anniversary, something that reaffirms the importance of the humanities and social sciences. “The monument to Kim Kirim at Katahira Campus is a symbol, not only of the friendship between the two countries, but also of the importance of knowledge in the humanities and social sciences for our university,” he said in his congratulatory speech.