By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
Park Chong-dal has a story to tell. It is not his own story but his father's.
His father, Park Yong-chol, a poet during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945) was the first to translate Norwegian playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen's plays into Korean.
A self-taught, fluent speaker of German, the father taught himself the Norwegian language in order to translate Ibsen's plays. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 35, when his son was only seven years old.
Park Chong-dal, in his 70s now, has launched the Park Yong-chol Society to commemorate his father and his Norwegian connection.
Unni Lovlid, a Norwegian folk singer, is Park's partner in the project. In fact, she is a pioneer in combining Korean and Norwegian music. After her first trip to Korea last year, she had secured funding for Korea-related projects from the Norwegian authorities.
Her connection to Korea is a rather new one, having come to Korea for the first time last year. Her trip was in connection to the translation of Norwegian Poet Olav H. Hauge's poems into Korean, and she sang for the occasion.
She is back again this year to give concerts at the National Theater of Korea and a few other venues. She said her first trip left her with undeletable memories and yearning for return.
"I have traveled to many countries in Asia, but Korea was definitely one that I wanted to come back," she said during a concert held at Norwegian Ambassador Didrik Tonseth's house last Thursday.
Next year, Lovlid and Park are planning to organize rare literary events both in Korea and Norway.
With the assistance of Park, a group of Korean folk musicians will join the singer, giving concerts with a sprinkle of poetry.
The ambassador was supportive of the initiative, hoping it would contribute to overcoming geological distance and teach about culture.
Park Yong-chol was born in 1904. Growing up in South Jeolla Province, he studied abroad in Japan. His literary career bloomed in Japan, as he began to write for literary journals.
Park was also a recognized translator. In addition to works by Ibsen, he translated many German literary works into the Korean language.