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The Red Years: Forbidden Poems from Inside North Korea
Though North Korea holds the attention of the world, it is still rare for us to hear North Korean voices, beyond those few who have escaped. Known only by his pen name, the poet and author Bandi stands as one of the most distinctive and original dissident writers to emerge from the country, and his work is all the more striking for the fact that he continues to reside in North Korea, writing in secret, with his work smuggled out of the country by supporters and relatives.
The Red Years represents the first collection of Bandi’s poetry to be made available in English. As he did in his first work The Accusation, Bandi here gives us a rare glimpse into everyday life and survival in North Korea. Singularly poignant and evocative, The Red Years stands as a testament to the power of the human spirit to endure and resist even the most repressive of regimes.
The Red Years represents the first collection of Bandi’s poetry to be made available in English. As he did in his first work The Accusation, Bandi here gives us a rare glimpse into everyday life and survival in North Korea. Singularly poignant and evocative, The Red Years stands as a testament to the power of the human spirit to endure and resist even the most repressive of regimes.
- GenresPoetryAsian Literature
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 18, 2018
6 people are currently reading
437 people want to read
About the author
Bandi
8 books58 followersBandi (반디, Korean for "Firefly"; born 1950) is the pseudonym used by a North Korean writer.
Bandi was born in 1950 in China to Korean parents who had moved there fleeing the Korean War. Bandi grew up in China before the family moved back to North Korea. In the 1970s, Bandi managed to publish some of his early writing in North Korean publications.
After the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 and the hardship that followed, Bandi lost several people close to him to famine and defections. These developments made Bandi disillusioned with the North Korean system and he started to write dissident literature. The opportunity to publish his dissident writing presented itself when Bandi's friend from Hamhung defected to China. Although the friend could not risk taking the manuscripts with her, she promised that she would find a way to bring them abroad. Several months later, a man previously unknown to Bandi came to see him and passed him a note from the friend, asking Bandi to give the man his manuscripts. With the help of this messenger, Bandi's work made its way to South Korea, where it was published.
In North Korea, Bandi is a member of the country's Korean Writers' Alliance and writes for its publications. Bandi still lives in North Korea. Although he has expressed willingness to defect, he could not do so because he has family in the country.
Bandi's collection of political poems, The Red Years (Korean: 붉은세월; Hanja: 붉은歲月), was published in South Korea in January 2018. The English version, translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl, was published by Zed Books in August 2019.
Bandi was born in 1950 in China to Korean parents who had moved there fleeing the Korean War. Bandi grew up in China before the family moved back to North Korea. In the 1970s, Bandi managed to publish some of his early writing in North Korean publications.
After the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 and the hardship that followed, Bandi lost several people close to him to famine and defections. These developments made Bandi disillusioned with the North Korean system and he started to write dissident literature. The opportunity to publish his dissident writing presented itself when Bandi's friend from Hamhung defected to China. Although the friend could not risk taking the manuscripts with her, she promised that she would find a way to bring them abroad. Several months later, a man previously unknown to Bandi came to see him and passed him a note from the friend, asking Bandi to give the man his manuscripts. With the help of this messenger, Bandi's work made its way to South Korea, where it was published.
In North Korea, Bandi is a member of the country's Korean Writers' Alliance and writes for its publications. Bandi still lives in North Korea. Although he has expressed willingness to defect, he could not do so because he has family in the country.
Bandi's collection of political poems, The Red Years (Korean: 붉은세월; Hanja: 붉은歲月), was published in South Korea in January 2018. The English version, translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl, was published by Zed Books in August 2019.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 1, 2020
I'm not sure how you could possibly review this in the traditional sense when the author has literally risked his life just by not only putting these words on paper, but even thinking these thoughts.
Bandi bravely casts his message to the west again via sparse but heartbreaking poetry about the crushingly oppressive regime in North Korea, dangerous criticisms of the supreme leader and pining for freedom.
Bandi bravely casts his message to the west again via sparse but heartbreaking poetry about the crushingly oppressive regime in North Korea, dangerous criticisms of the supreme leader and pining for freedom.
December 22, 2021
I am shocked I liked this as much as I did - I dislike poetry with a passion; and, although I appreciate Bandi's work and find it insanely important, I didn't exactly enjoy his collection of stories The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea. My copy of the collection did not have any comments about the stories, which I think would have been needed for those unfamiliar to North Korea. The Red Years had a few comments at the end of the book to explain certain things - not only NK-wise, but also about certain allegories in the poems that obviously escaped me.
The Red Years is divided into five sections:
- Barren Earth: poems about how living in NK isn't great.
- Exhausted Heart: samizdat poetry - my obvious favorite part. Some of these seemed particularly dangerous for the author: "Idol," "Song of the Red People," and "The Song of the Five Thieves". Spoiler tagging my favorite bit from this last poem:
- Longing for You, My Love: poems about reunification and aspirations to escape (here "woman" means escaping, and "love" means reunification)
- Attached to a Life: poems about life
- Wishes : poems about how to live - I personally found all of these beautiful, especially "Live with an Open Heart," "Sow Love, Reap Love," and "A Dream." Some of these resonated with me and how I live my life, but knowing about North Korea, I found the messages about freedom and so very poignant. My favorite line of these has to be from "Of the World Where People Live": Is a culture that has lost its humanity still civilized? - which is a fun one considering the Kims' goal of building a socialist civilization.
I personally loved reading this, though I'd say a bit of knowledge of North Korea may be required to fully understand the poems in Exhausted Heart (i.e., "sun" = Kim Il-sung, "mother" = the party or Kim Il-sung, what Chollima is, etc.). Both Bandi's stories and poems got out of North Korea in the same bundle, which was smuggled out thanks to a relative of the author. Seeing how Bandi has written about his* temptation (or desire) to escape, I would love to hear at some point that he's gotten out. In the afterword, it is sort of confirmed that his well-being is unknown, but here's to hoping his dissidence has somehow gone unnoticed - and that another manuscript gets out.
*I say 'his' because the foreword sort of confirmed Bandi is a man, which is something that my copy of The Accusation did not do.
The Red Years is divided into five sections:
- Barren Earth: poems about how living in NK isn't great.
- Exhausted Heart: samizdat poetry - my obvious favorite part. Some of these seemed particularly dangerous for the author: "Idol," "Song of the Red People," and "The Song of the Five Thieves". Spoiler tagging my favorite bit from this last poem:
- Longing for You, My Love: poems about reunification and aspirations to escape (here "woman" means escaping, and "love" means reunification)
- Attached to a Life: poems about life
- Wishes : poems about how to live - I personally found all of these beautiful, especially "Live with an Open Heart," "Sow Love, Reap Love," and "A Dream." Some of these resonated with me and how I live my life, but knowing about North Korea, I found the messages about freedom and so very poignant. My favorite line of these has to be from "Of the World Where People Live": Is a culture that has lost its humanity still civilized? - which is a fun one considering the Kims' goal of building a socialist civilization.
I personally loved reading this, though I'd say a bit of knowledge of North Korea may be required to fully understand the poems in Exhausted Heart (i.e., "sun" = Kim Il-sung, "mother" = the party or Kim Il-sung, what Chollima is, etc.). Both Bandi's stories and poems got out of North Korea in the same bundle, which was smuggled out thanks to a relative of the author. Seeing how Bandi has written about his* temptation (or desire) to escape, I would love to hear at some point that he's gotten out. In the afterword, it is sort of confirmed that his well-being is unknown, but here's to hoping his dissidence has somehow gone unnoticed - and that another manuscript gets out.
*I say 'his' because the foreword sort of confirmed Bandi is a man, which is something that my copy of The Accusation did not do.
April 15, 2021
'All my life I'd pictured you, until my hair turned
white.
And I'd called out to you in dreams, with heated
blood.
From the North, this land, this prison without bars.
The love I'd long awaited was the bosom of the South.'
It's difficult to rate this one when you know the author risked his life in order to share his stories, but I thought Bandi's poems were beautifully written. Some of them I didn't understand as well as others, which I think proves a point that Bandi is making in this collection of poems. He is writing about freedom or lack thereof, and for me to not understand all of what he is saying proves that I am taking my freedom for granted.
risked his life
white.
And I'd called out to you in dreams, with heated
blood.
From the North, this land, this prison without bars.
The love I'd long awaited was the bosom of the South.'
It's difficult to rate this one when you know the author risked his life in order to share his stories, but I thought Bandi's poems were beautifully written. Some of them I didn't understand as well as others, which I think proves a point that Bandi is making in this collection of poems. He is writing about freedom or lack thereof, and for me to not understand all of what he is saying proves that I am taking my freedom for granted.
risked his life
January 16, 2020
I actually like the poem collection despite my initial skepticism, rooted in how many western publishers love to fetishize the pain of people’s living under a certain authoritarian regime. Although I do have issues with the visible repetition of words, but Bandi’s structure is highly enjoyable & loyal to folk songs’ structure of (North/South) Korea. The only reason why it’s not 5-star because chapter “The Wishes” is a bit over the top, albeit it’s full of beautiful allegories.
The depiction of nature is what draws me the most about Bandi’s poem. Nature is violent, nature is father and mother, nature is weeping, nature is nice, nature is merciless, nature is deceitful. And humans are deservingly right to be angry and feel other things too. Symbolism of nature here comes as a very complex form, abandoning any mainstream beliefs about “Eastern” culture’s attachment to nature.
The depiction of nature is what draws me the most about Bandi’s poem. Nature is violent, nature is father and mother, nature is weeping, nature is nice, nature is merciless, nature is deceitful. And humans are deservingly right to be angry and feel other things too. Symbolism of nature here comes as a very complex form, abandoning any mainstream beliefs about “Eastern” culture’s attachment to nature.
April 27, 2020
"Love fiercely till you burn to ashes / Because life, life is not long."
December 28, 2023
No pocas veces, un verso muy sencillo puede decir más del mundo que una novela tan larga como Guerra y paz o Los miserables. Joyas así se ven en medio de unos poemas, literalmente, prohibidos y llenos del ansia por la libertad.
May 18, 2024
Ah-- to be a poem and truly read! / If that is to be my fate, / then I wish you-- only you-- would be my first, / and my last, reader.
Read
May 6, 2021Reading this and having thought even deeper about the context, I feel like a dick for feeling overall so-so about The Accusation (though I guess if I honestly felt that way about the work in and of itself, I just felt that way). I don’t know if it’s because this actually had more notes to remind you of the circumstances under which we come by these poems or if it’s because the poems are so short and direct that both the content and context are more present in the mind, but this made a stronger impression on me even though I usually connect with prose more easily than poetry. It also makes me think I should perhaps re-read The Accusation..
February 16, 2021
«Rómpete cuando te golpeen— ¿para qué llorar antes de tiempo?
Estaré riendo hasta el momento exacto en que me rompa.»
.
De Bandi sabemos que durante la Guerra de Corea huyó a China con sus padres, que cuando esta termino tuvo que volver a su Corea del Norte natal y que allí se labró una carrera como escritor de propaganda para el régimen. Sabemos también, que ante la oportunidad de huir a Corea del Sur, decidió quedarse para proteger a su familia, pero le pidió a una familiar que huiría pronto que se llevase sus escritos con ella. Por supuesto, estos escritos secretos nada tenían que ver con lo que escribía para el régimen. Esta familiar no se llevó los escritos de Bandi por miedo a que su huida no fuese exitosa, pero una vez estuvo a salvo en Corea del Sur, mandó un mensajero a casa de Bandi que se encargó de hacerle llegar los manuscritos un tiempo después. Esos manuscritos serían publicados después en Corea del Sur en dos obras: el libro de historias que fue traducido al español bajo el título 'La Acusación' ; y este poemario, que aún no tenemos en nuestra lengua.
La literatura que tenemos de Corea del Norte se compone básicamente de las memorias de refugiados que cuentan su vida en el país y como consiguieron huir. No tenemos, sin embargo, literatura escrita por autores que sigan viviendo allí y que no sean un arma propagandística del gobierno. Bandi es, por supuesto, un seudónimo (en coreano, 'luciérnaga') y su obra es una excepción a esta regla.
Al leer este poemario no podía parar de pensar que si se descubriese la identidad de este autor, sería asesinado en cuestión de horas. A veces olvidamos la suerte que tenemos de vivir en la época y el lugar en el que vivimos, y aparte de ser una colección de poemas preciosa, este libro me ha hecho reflexionar mucho acerca de la libertad y la literatura. Al escribir lo que escribe, Bandi se está jugando la vida, y el hecho de que su trabajo sea precisamente el escribir a favor del régimen es un reflejo claro de lo irónica que puede ser la vida.
Los temas de este poemario son la guerra, el amor, la opresión, la libertad, la desesperanza... La voz de Bandi es un grito y yo lo he sentido muy dentro.
Estaré riendo hasta el momento exacto en que me rompa.»
.
De Bandi sabemos que durante la Guerra de Corea huyó a China con sus padres, que cuando esta termino tuvo que volver a su Corea del Norte natal y que allí se labró una carrera como escritor de propaganda para el régimen. Sabemos también, que ante la oportunidad de huir a Corea del Sur, decidió quedarse para proteger a su familia, pero le pidió a una familiar que huiría pronto que se llevase sus escritos con ella. Por supuesto, estos escritos secretos nada tenían que ver con lo que escribía para el régimen. Esta familiar no se llevó los escritos de Bandi por miedo a que su huida no fuese exitosa, pero una vez estuvo a salvo en Corea del Sur, mandó un mensajero a casa de Bandi que se encargó de hacerle llegar los manuscritos un tiempo después. Esos manuscritos serían publicados después en Corea del Sur en dos obras: el libro de historias que fue traducido al español bajo el título 'La Acusación' ; y este poemario, que aún no tenemos en nuestra lengua.
La literatura que tenemos de Corea del Norte se compone básicamente de las memorias de refugiados que cuentan su vida en el país y como consiguieron huir. No tenemos, sin embargo, literatura escrita por autores que sigan viviendo allí y que no sean un arma propagandística del gobierno. Bandi es, por supuesto, un seudónimo (en coreano, 'luciérnaga') y su obra es una excepción a esta regla.
Al leer este poemario no podía parar de pensar que si se descubriese la identidad de este autor, sería asesinado en cuestión de horas. A veces olvidamos la suerte que tenemos de vivir en la época y el lugar en el que vivimos, y aparte de ser una colección de poemas preciosa, este libro me ha hecho reflexionar mucho acerca de la libertad y la literatura. Al escribir lo que escribe, Bandi se está jugando la vida, y el hecho de que su trabajo sea precisamente el escribir a favor del régimen es un reflejo claro de lo irónica que puede ser la vida.
Los temas de este poemario son la guerra, el amor, la opresión, la libertad, la desesperanza... La voz de Bandi es un grito y yo lo he sentido muy dentro.
January 21, 2025
It’s hard to review this just from my own connection with the work. Assuming this is real, Bandi, the pseudonym of a writer actually living in North Korea, went to great lengths to get this published. It’s an act of literary bravery that makes this hard to review objectively.
I will say though that I didn’t personally connect with the poems here. A lot of it were critiques of North Korean life or the regime that are steeped in allusions to Korean history and culture, which at times can be hard to follow, if at times enlightening. There were a lot of poetic refrains too which I don’t usually find that compelling, but again, might be coming from a place of ignorance with respect to Korean poetry. It was certainly interesting to read from a sociological standpoint, but I’ve never really connected with political poetry.
There’s a separate argument to be had about whether or not Bandi really exists. The history of literary forgery is pretty long, and there’s definitely potential that Bandi does not, in the way his publishers portray him, exist. A more likely scenario is that this is a defector who is writing about their experience in North Korea, but passing their work off as that of someone still actively living there. There’s this good Reddit thread on it: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMy...
But I’d like to believe this is actually a real dissident, who is publishing their work no matter the risks involved. To have a love of poetry, words and literature so deep that they’d stop at nothing to get their voice out there. If it’s true, this is one of the most remarkable things I’ve read in a long time.
P.S. This brought me down a rabbit hole of reading about literature in North Korea. There is apparently a group of writers (Korean Writers Alliance) who are sanctioned to write, and must produce work within specific guidelines: off which Bandi is a member of.
There’s also apparently other North Korean works that have been subsequently published in South Korea, but it’s mostly the political dissident works that have made their way into English.
I will say though that I didn’t personally connect with the poems here. A lot of it were critiques of North Korean life or the regime that are steeped in allusions to Korean history and culture, which at times can be hard to follow, if at times enlightening. There were a lot of poetic refrains too which I don’t usually find that compelling, but again, might be coming from a place of ignorance with respect to Korean poetry. It was certainly interesting to read from a sociological standpoint, but I’ve never really connected with political poetry.
There’s a separate argument to be had about whether or not Bandi really exists. The history of literary forgery is pretty long, and there’s definitely potential that Bandi does not, in the way his publishers portray him, exist. A more likely scenario is that this is a defector who is writing about their experience in North Korea, but passing their work off as that of someone still actively living there. There’s this good Reddit thread on it: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMy...
But I’d like to believe this is actually a real dissident, who is publishing their work no matter the risks involved. To have a love of poetry, words and literature so deep that they’d stop at nothing to get their voice out there. If it’s true, this is one of the most remarkable things I’ve read in a long time.
P.S. This brought me down a rabbit hole of reading about literature in North Korea. There is apparently a group of writers (Korean Writers Alliance) who are sanctioned to write, and must produce work within specific guidelines: off which Bandi is a member of.
There’s also apparently other North Korean works that have been subsequently published in South Korea, but it’s mostly the political dissident works that have made their way into English.
December 27, 2019
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars
A great deal of the allure of this collection is obviously its origin; written in secret, snuck out of North Korea and translated to be avaliable under a pseudonym to protect the author’s identity from what is literally a death sentence. The poems themselves are moving, if from the awareness of their context, but I’m sure a lot of cultural aspects were lost on me. A short collection of notes at the end explains some references that shine a light on Bandi’s craft, but I would’ve liked them to be closer to the poems physically so I could under and as I was reading them - and I wish there was a lot more. I want to explore these, pick them apart, but I need some help to do so. Ultimately, the key to this collection is how hopeful, rebellious and vibrantly alive the author remains - and fervently wants to spread. ‘Break when they beat you - why cry in advance?’
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars
A great deal of the allure of this collection is obviously its origin; written in secret, snuck out of North Korea and translated to be avaliable under a pseudonym to protect the author’s identity from what is literally a death sentence. The poems themselves are moving, if from the awareness of their context, but I’m sure a lot of cultural aspects were lost on me. A short collection of notes at the end explains some references that shine a light on Bandi’s craft, but I would’ve liked them to be closer to the poems physically so I could under and as I was reading them - and I wish there was a lot more. I want to explore these, pick them apart, but I need some help to do so. Ultimately, the key to this collection is how hopeful, rebellious and vibrantly alive the author remains - and fervently wants to spread. ‘Break when they beat you - why cry in advance?’
January 27, 2025
‘Great Leader, Great Leader, / you are the sky and we are just bugs. / Strike us down with your furious lightning, / but tell us, just tell us that you love us”... So writes Bandi in ‘Song of the Red People’, one of many incendiary poems of protest and oppression in The Red Years: Forbidden Poems from Inside North Korea (translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl). I read and was astonished by the first part of Bandi’s smuggled manuscripts, the short stories published as The Accusation, when it first came out a couple of years ago. These poems are a fitting continuation, sparse and sometimes horrifying, but always centred around the everyday, and enshrined in the belief in a brighter future, a unified Korea with a free people. Bandi’s work leads us to question the lengths we would go to for our beliefs, a reminder that we must never become complacent about our good fortune to be able to think and write freely.
January 19, 2020
This is a collection of poems written by a North Korean dissident and smuggled out by family and friends. That is what makes them so interesting to western readers such as me. And reading them is heartbreaking and fascinating- they provide such an intriguing insight into the nature of opposition to the North Korean regime in that country.
So why only 3 stars? Because all the poems are very similar in tone and content and what I would really wish for is something broader, a collection that tells me more about life, society and opposition in North Korea. Perhaps I’m being unfair, given the huge risks taken in smuggling these poems out of the country, but I wanted to give an honest review of the poetry.
So why only 3 stars? Because all the poems are very similar in tone and content and what I would really wish for is something broader, a collection that tells me more about life, society and opposition in North Korea. Perhaps I’m being unfair, given the huge risks taken in smuggling these poems out of the country, but I wanted to give an honest review of the poetry.
April 30, 2020
Bandi's The Accusation stands as one of the best works to come out of North Korea in recent years. This second collection are the poems he had written. I struggled with them a bit, in part because I read them too fast and my ebook messed the formatting making every other line blur into each other, but in part because translated poetry loses the cadence of the language. How can you translate and keep original rhythms, how can one understand the allusions, or know which poetic structure is implemented, or the double entendres? Poetry is meaning tied to form - you lose one you lose the other, making them impossible to authentically translate.
March 4, 2021
An incredibly emotional and powerful account of pain and suffering in North Korea. I found myself rereading each piece before I could turn the page, to make sure that I didn't miss anything. The poems in this collection tell the story of a man who has suffered more than any human being should, but still holds hope that the future will be better. Perhaps the most heartbreaking part is that Bandi is still in North Korea with his family. I will absolutely recommend this book to everyone in my life, so that they can better understand what life in like in the DPRK.
May 1, 2021
I definitely missed quite a few of the references, not being Korean but, this is a collection of visceral powerful poetry. One small editorial thing that I wish; however, would be that the notes on the various poems would have been put with the actual poems instead of all collected at the end of the book. Very worth reading alongside Bandi's collection of short stories, The Accusation. Also very much looking forward to other books ZED books has to offer.
February 12, 2020
Took me less than an hour to finish this collection of poems. Bandi writes about a range of human emotions, from loneliness and longing to political resistance and surviving an oppressive regime. Definitely worth a read.
February 10, 2022
"the sound of winter crying"
"with bones dipped in blood and tears
this is what I have written"
There's a lot that can be discussed with these poems, but it goes without saying how important they are. If you have the chance to read this collection, please take it.
"with bones dipped in blood and tears
this is what I have written"
There's a lot that can be discussed with these poems, but it goes without saying how important they are. If you have the chance to read this collection, please take it.
October 14, 2022
Beautiful and heart-wrenching. I especially highly recommend listening to the arirang folk song while you read "a new arirang for the north" (you can easily find it on youtube). It really sets the tone not only for the poem but for the whole collection.
October 5, 2019
Fabulous. Inspiring verse. Read huge chunks of the book with avidity. Lucky we can have access to Bandi's mind. Great lines ... even in translation. Recommended reading.
December 30, 2019
Interesting but perhaps the author’s fiction is better than their poetry.
April 18, 2020
Beautiful collection, but it’s only 80 pages (dunno why it says online this book is 200)
November 18, 2020
The yearning is heartbreaking.
Yearning for a meal, warmth, comfort, love and freedom.
Yearning for a meal, warmth, comfort, love and freedom.
July 3, 2022
4.5 stars
October 31, 2023
Piękne. Opowiadane bez emocji, które czyta się pomiędzy wierszami.
March 8, 2024
My favorite poems: "Green Leaves, Falling," "Virgin Window," "O You Ugly, White Snow," "Song of the Red People," "Toads," "Not a Song About Our Backgrounds," and "Tin Kim's 'Song.'"
December 10, 2024
51 små digte om længslen efter frihed og værdighed.
April 17, 2025
"Though I may get news that you will never come,
Still, I will come out to the road each day.
I love you so much, I am happy just to wait
Even if waiting is all I can do."
Still, I will come out to the road each day.
I love you so much, I am happy just to wait
Even if waiting is all I can do."
May 11, 2025
What a book! This poet became one of my favorite poets, although this was the first book I read from him.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews