The National Army Soldier Says Dead
by Mo Yoon-Sook
While wandering around the Gwangju Mountains, I suddenly met a Korean national army soldier who died alone and fell.
In a secluded valley by the mountain,
I see the national army soldier lying alone.
No words, no movements
I see the soldier with eyes closed to the sky.
The sign of your shoulders that glitters in the yellow uniform by the sunlight
You were a proud second lieutenant in the army of the Republic of Korea.
Hot blood still oozes from your chest
O scent of blood thicker than the smell of roses!
Falling down and weeping over the young death,
I listen to the last words you gave me.
I died at the age of twenty-five.
I died as a son of Korea.
Guarding the suffocating the clouds and the mountains of the motherland from the enemies,
I finally died.
An inviolable gun in my hand, an unbreakable helmet on my head
I have never been cowardly to fight my enemies.
The stronger soul screams in my blood
I ran through mountains, valleys, tombs and forests of thorns
Like Yi Sun-sin, like Napoleon, like Caesar
To stop the danger of my homeland, I advanced forward day and night! March forward!
I pushed my enemies and fought.
I wanted to go further, to the distant sky.
Push and push like a storm
I wanted to stretch out.
I have a mother, a father and cute little sisters.
There was a girl I loved.
My youth like a bud wanted to bloom and live in this land
with my close people
with the birds of my country
I wanted to grow up and sing.
So I fought more valiantly and then I died.
No one will know my death.
But my country, my love!
The sweat drops on my dead face.
The passing breeze gently washes me like this.
Aren't those blue stars comforting my loneliness all night long!
I wear my country's military uniform.
I rest in joy in the grass of the valley.
Now I can rest my tired body for a while.
I drink the wind that flies in the sky.
I fought for my proud motherland.
I also died gloriously for my country.
Here, where I lay, in an unknown valley
I became a nightingale's eternal companion
that cried not known to anyone in the grass of the night dew.
Wind! Those unknown birds!
On any road you pass
When you meet compatriots in my country who are struggling,
please tell them, don't cry for me but cry for our country.
That light-flying spring bird
By any window where you fly
If you happen to meet my darling girl,
tell her don't cry for me but for the sake of our holy country.
Homeland! Compatriots! My dear girl!
I go for your happiness.
My unfulfilled wish, the unsurrendered enemy
Defeat them for me for my youth.
Retreat is cowardly, more cowardly than a slave than surrendering
Even if all the surrounding soldiers retreat, Republic of Korea Armed Forces! Only you have to fight on for this land to win. You have to die on this land to live
The country once abandoned will never come again, never again.
Behold, a storm is coming, Republic of Korea!
Wolves and lions cross rivers and mountains
Are you trying to ignore this sadness as it's fate?
No, it's not fate, however, it's okay to be fate.
We are stronger than fate! strong!
Destroy the fate of this enemy, my friend!
Those strong limbs, those red Founding Father Dangun’s blood and soul
Don't hesitate to fight, die where you die
to bring back the life of the dying motherland.
For the sake of our motherland,
I refuse even the grave where this body will hide and a small coffin to hold my body.
Before long, the harsh wind sweeps away my body.
Even if the insects on the wet ground like to eat my body,
I am happy to be friends with them,
waiting for the country to be happy.
In this valley, I wish to be a handful of dust on the land of my motherland.
In a secluded valley beside the mountain,
I see the national army soldier lying alone.
No words, no movements
I see the national army soldier with eyes closed to the sky.
The sign of your shoulders that glitters in the yellow uniform by the sunlight.
You were a proud second lieutenant in the army of the Republic of Korea.
Hot blood still spurts out of your chest
O scent of blood thicker than the smell of roses!
Falling down and weeping over the young death,
I listen to the last words you gave me.