Many people envision patriots as those who openly speak up against oppressors of their countries and march for independence. Yoon Dongju, a Korean poet who lived during the Japanese occupation of Korea, quietly resisted Japanese imperialism with written word.

With 2025 marking the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese imperialism and the passing of Yoon, I visited Yonsei University Yoon Dongju Memorial Hall and Yoon Dongju Literature Museum, where I felt Yoon’s quiet yet unwavering strength in his poems and documentations of his life.

Born in 1917 in Bukkando, Yoon grew up during Japan’s imperialist rule over Korea. He immersed himself in books and poetry, finessing his talent in literary arts from a young age and always ready to fulfill his destiny to be a poet.

While his parents worried about the “impractical” nature of writing poetry, the young writer persevered, never letting the flame inside his heart even so much as flicker. After graduating Yonhui University (present-day Yonsei University), Yoon pursued English Literature at Rikkyo University and Doshisha University in Japan.

Life in Japan as a Korean was not easy during a time when Korea was under Japanese rule. Every day, Yoon grappled with shame and helplessness at not being able to stand up for his own country. Many of the poems he produced in Japan revolve around themes of guilt and embarrassment.

However, even without knowing it himself, Yoon was expressing the love he had for his country through his poems. The Japanese government banned the use of the Korean language, yet Yoon continued to write in his native language. His actions signified the pride he felt in his heritage, making many Koreans today view him as a patriot.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government at the time viewed him as a threat. Deemed as a participant of the Korean independence movement, Yoon was imprisoned in Fukuoka. There, Yoon was repeatedly injected with a mysterious substance and passed away at the young age of 27 in February 1945, just six months before Korea was liberated.

In his most famous poem “One Night, Counting the Stars (별 헤는 밤),” Yoon longs for his homeland. Simultaneously serene and raw, the poem incites an achingly beautiful landscape of a night sky studded with stars. Many Koreans today feel the same longing for Yoon, a poet and a patriot whose life was cut short while fighting for his country in his quiet, peaceful ways. Yoon and his poems serve as a reminder that strength resides within us and that words have the power to heal.

Graphic gallery by Eunsoo Lee. Lee is a high schooler producing content as a part of The Stanford Daily’s 2025 High School Multimedia Workshop.