The first man of literature we'll come across on this trail is Sopa Bang Jeonghwan.

Oh, it is hard to find the trails of Bang Jeonghwan in this concrete forest. But if you look carefully, a stone post is in a small garden in front of Royal Building, marking the birthplace of Bang Jeonghwan.

Thanks to this little stone post, we can talk about Bang Jeonghwan. Bang Jeonghwan is also known as the 'friend of children.' He’s the one who designated the Children's Day and established '' 'Saekdonghoe Club' to lead Children's Movement. He also asked Yoon Seokjung, a Korean children's literature writer and Jeong Suncheol, an educator who dedicated himself to training younger students and a children's rights activist, to compose a song.

Some of you may think that Bang Jeonghwan is not a great fit for the theme of this course. But, mind you, Bang Jeonghwan translated foreign fairy tales and published them in a fairy tale book called 〈 Gift of Love〉. Published by Gaebyeoksa, 〈 Gift of Love〉 may be a translated work, but it showed the need for children's literature. Literature for children... During the Joseon Dynasty, people thought of children as someone who needed discipline, and there were no books for children.

Hmm, it does seem that Bang Jeonghwan was ahead of his time. Inside 〈Gift of Love〉, there are 10 classical children's stories picked from 〈Andersen's Fairy Tales〉 and 〈Grimm's Household Tales〉.

The reason he published this children's book is very touching. Let me read it for you. 'I published this book as the first loving and sympathetic gift for our children that grow in abuse, devastation, and cold and dark.' Even if you leave out 'children' in this sentence, it presents a perfect need for literature.

Of course, Bang Jeonghwan also wrote children's stories and published essays himself. On this note, Bang is a true writer in children's literature.

If you ask me about Bang Jeonghwan's greatest accomplishment, it would be creating the unique word ' children' in Korean. Children in Korean is a formal way of calling minors like we call ' seniors' or ' the youth.' It is often pointed out that one of the backgrounds that motivated Bang Jeonghwan to have such an idea was being the son-in-law of Son Byeonghui, a Korean Cheondoism leader.

In Cheondoism, it is said that 'striking children is like striking Hanul-nim,' indicating that children are full persons. To practice this belief, the religion instructs its devotees that they must speak formally when addressing children. In fact, in Korean, it sounds most natural when you finish a sentence with the word 'children' in a formal manner. In English, for example, it might sound like 'dear young children.'

By the way, it is very difficult for newly created words like ' children' to survive. One of the reasons that this word survives is thanks to the presence of the magazine 〈 Eorini〉. This magazine was issued in March 1923 by ' Gaebyeoksa' and was hugely popular. ' Eorini', which means ‘children’ in Korean, was the name of the magazine, and people became familiar with the word. Oh, but it makes me sad because I can barely see popular children's or young adult magazines. This is my opinion, but I believe that rather than saying 'kids' book' or 'kids literature', it is better to say ' children's book' or 'children's literature'.

Bang Jeonghwan left many other footprints as well. For example, at the Central Temple of Cheondogyo, there is Monument of the Birthplace of World Children's Movement' that commemorates Bang Jeonghwan for first beginning the children's Movement and Korea for designating a Children's Day for the first time in the world. But did you know this? Bang Jeonghwan's grave is located in ' Mangu History and Culture Park'. His tombstone says, 'The hearts of children are like those of celestial beings.'

It seems to imply the emergence of literature for children and changes to a new world.

Let's go to our next destination. We will be heading to the front yard of Kyobo Books, a massive bookstore located at Gwanghawmun Intersection. Walk past Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and Gwanghawmun Square, and you're there. Continue on with the view of General Yi Sun-shin, and Gwanghawmun Gate and Bugaksan Mountain and Bukansan Mountain as the backdrop of King Sejong the Great makes you realize that you are walking in the very center of Seoul. I think it's a good idea to enjoy a slow pace when you walk here.

Cross the road and head for the statue that is sitting at the entrance to the bookstore, facing Jongno.