Inaugural issue of 68-year-old Ulsan alumni journal 'Munsubong' unveiled

The inaugural issue of "Munsubong," a journal reflecting the fierce aspirations of Ulsan students who left their hometown to pursue education in Seoul, has been made public, drawing wide attention. The issue dates to 1958, a period still scarred by the Korean War and its aftermath. Poet Choe Jang-rak, a literary figure active in the Ulsan region, recently acquired the copy through an auction.

Printed in standard book format (150×210 mm) and running 151 pages, "Munsubong" is divided into sections on discourse and literature. The cover was designed by Cheon Gyeong-ja, a towering figure in Korean painting. The issue features "Democracy and the Nation's Fate" by hangul scholar Choe Hyeon-bae, "Hwasandaegi" by short-story master Oh Yeong-su, "The Movement to Love One's Hometown" by Eom Dae-seop — a pioneer of the library movement in Korea — and "The Rural Reality and Development Strategies of Ulsan County" by the county's then-chief executive Seo Seok-ji.

The names of future political and legal heavyweights also appear in its pages. The volume brings together the youthful reflections of Ulsan talents who would go on to shape modern Korea — among them Jeong Hae-yeong, a seven-term Assembly member who served as deputy speaker; Ahn Woo-man, then a student and later minister of justice; and former lawmaker Cha Hwa-jun. The roster of contributors alone makes the journal a microcosm of modern Korean history.

Some passages read as a cry from young intellectuals who dreamed of rebuilding a nation left in ruins by the Korean War — words that seem to reach across 68 years to speak to the present.

Lee Won, then a fourth-year student at Seoul National University, argued in an essay titled "The Sovereign's Attitude Toward Elections": "Our people suffered for thousands of years under the whip of aristocratic monarchical rule and had their flesh and blood taken by the ruthless military politics of imperial Japan, and that bitter memory remains vivid — so at some point we became a powerless people who came to regard obedience as a virtue and simply submitted without question to the coercive demands of those in power."

Poet Choe Jang-rak, who made the journal public, said the book is "a precious record of the dreams, self-respect and desire to change the times held by Ulsan youth who refused to give up on learning even amid the ruins," adding that it "awakens a sense of pride in the people of Ulsan."