Beloved 1970s comic 'Chorus of Pigeons' named modern cultural treasure
Hand-drawn manuscript pages of the 1970s comic “Chorus of Pigeons,” by the late cartoonist Lee Sang-moo. Courtesy of Korea Manhwa Contents Agency
Hand-drawn manuscripts by late cartoonist Lee Sang-moo earn state recognition for chronicling everyday family struggles
The original manuscripts of “Chorus of Pigeons,” a beloved 1970s family comic by the late cartoonist Lee Sang-moo, have been designated as preliminary cultural heritage, the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency said Thursday.
Finalized by the Korea Heritage Service earlier this week, the designation encompasses 601 hand-drawn manuscript pages and scripts for a television adaptation, all housed at the agency. The state category protects artifacts under 50 years old that are too recent for formal cultural heritage registration yet deemed vital to preserve.
Serialized in the children’s magazine "Sonyeon Joongang" from April 1978 to June 1979, the story resonated widely with readers for its portrayal of an ordinary family holding onto hope amid poverty and hardship.
Even in an era when comics were largely dismissed as lowbrow entertainment, the series earned rare official acclaim. It won an excellence award from a national ethics committee for books and magazines in 1980 and was named a recommended book by the Ministry of Culture and Public Information the following year. In 1988, broadcaster MBC adapted the work into a New Year’s special — the network’s first television animation based on a Korean comic.
According to the agency, the surviving manuscripts are exceptionally rare because original comic pages were routinely discarded after publication. The pages also offer a tangible window into analog print production, retaining traces of correction fluid alongside manually reattached lettering and page numbers.
The designation follows an application submitted by the agency in February, which cleared reviews by a Gyeonggi Province heritage committee in April and the Korea Heritage Service in September.
Born in 1946, Lee debuted in 1966 and produced roughly 300 works over a five-decade career before his death in 2016. Between 2013 and 2016, he donated approximately 31,000 items — including manuscripts, comic books and drawing tools — to the agency, and was posthumously awarded the Order of Cultural Merit in 2019.
A certificate ceremony and academic forum will be held Nov. 23 at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul.
"We are delighted that the late cartoonist Lee Sang-moo’s 'Chorus of Pigeons,' which has long been beloved by readers, has been selected as a preliminary cultural heritage, officially recognizing the value of the work," said Baek Jong-hoon, president of the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency. "Taking this selection as an opportunity, we will work to widely promote the historical and cultural value of Korean comics and ensure that our precious comic heritage is systematically preserved and passed down to future generations."
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.