Nobel Prize-Winning Writer Files Petition for Prof. Song
By Kim Rahn
Gunter Grass, a world-famous German writer, was reported to
have filed a petition Jan. 6 with a Seoul court over the trial
of Korean-German professor Song Du-yul.
On the petition he sent to the chief judge of Seoul District
Court Lee Dae-kyong, in charge of Song¡¯s case, Grass sought
to ``prevent Korea from regressing to an anti-democratic
country and let freedom of expression be secured.¡¯¡¯
He said on the petition that ``when invited to Korea for a
symposium on Germany¡¯s unification in May 2002, I had a
chance to meet Korean writers who had been put in jail when
democracy had not yet taken root in Korea.¡¯¡¯
``I was able to help some of them with my petitions when they
were behind bars (in the 1970s). The encounter with them in
2002 was such pleasure to see how Korea¡¯s democracy has
developed,¡¯¡¯ he recollected.
Grass wrote to state ``it is a shock and a disappointment that
Song faces trial due to some of his writings.¡¯¡¯ He closed
the letter saying ``I ask you to keep Korea as a country where
democracy persists and the freedom of expression is
valued.¡¯¡¯
The German writer was awarded a Nobel prize for literature
with ``The Tin Drum¡¯¡¯ in 1999. He is also dubbed as a
``conscience in action¡¯¡¯ for his active participation in
German society and international affairs.
He led an international movement to release dissident poets of
Korea while the country was under military dictatorship,
saying he would not visit Korea as long as poets like Kim
Ji-ha is imprisoned.
Grass visited Korea in 2002 to give a lecture on Germany¡¯s
unification at an international symposium held at Chungang
University, and met some of those poets such as Hwang
Suk-young.
Korean-German scholar Song Du-yul was indicted last November
and is on trial for violating the anti-communist National
Security Law.
rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr
