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This presentation shows the Dr. Mirok Li's bibliographic life, the works he produced and his literacy world through one of his well-known works 'the Yalu River Flows'.
He was a Zoologist and a writer. He received a doctorate in Zoology at Munich University in 1928.
And he also participated in resistance movements against Japanese colonial rule in Korea the Nazis in Germany.
Dr. Mirok Li was the first korean foreign student in Munich. He was born on March 8,1899 and grew up in an affluent business family. He was the youngst child out of four Siblings and also the only son of Li's family for the fourth generation. While he was attending the Kyungsung school of Medicin in Seoul, he participated in the March 1st Korean Independence Movement against Japanese colonization and joined Daehancheongnyeon -oegyohwaldongdan(대한 청년 외교활동단, Korea`s Independent Movement group). This got him trouble, resultingin him being pursued by the japanese police. He flied to Shanghai, China in 1919 and as a member of the Republic of Korea National Red Cross. he helped the Korean Provisional Government.
In may 1920, He arrived in Germany with help from a cousin of An Jung-Gun and a German missionary named Richard Wilhelm. He began his study of University of Würzburg and the the University of Heidelberg but transfered to the University of Munich in 1925 and changed his fields of study to zoology and philosophy.
He received a doctorate in Zoology in 1928. In his exile, he supported Yudeogoryeohaguhoe(이도고려학우회, the first Korean international student organization established in 1920 in Berlin) and participated in the Europe Anti-Japanese movement.
After achieving his doctoral degree, he actively worked as a writer. His first work, 'Night in a Korean Street (Nachts in einer koreanischen Gasse) was published in `Die Dame'.
His works contributed greatly to introducing the unknown world of Korea to Germans
He had a close relationship with Professor Kurt Huber who advised the anti-Nazi student movement group, The White Rose in Munich. Later Kurt Huber was imprisoned and guillotined in 1943 due to his involvement with The White Rose. Even after the death of Kurt Huber, Mirok maintained a relationship with the Huber Famiy and took care of them.
From 1947, Li taught the Korean Language, Chinese and Japanese literature and history as a lecturer at the East Asian Institute at the University of Munich. He was the only Korean – German author in Germany. In March of 1950, Li died of Gastric cancer and was laid to rest in Gräfelfinger cemetry near Munich.
In 1963, he was awarded the National Medal of The Order of Merit for the National Foundation by the Korean geverment due to his active participation in the Korean Independdence Movement.
In 2019, on Kurt Huber Street in Munich, statues of Mirok Li and Kurt Huber were raised next to each other. The following phrase is carved on Mirok's statue:
“ To all who view the world with love, thorn hills will be rose hills“
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| Keywords | Mirok Lee |
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