[1] Kim Jong-gil was born on November 5, 1926, in Andong, Keishōhoku-dō (North Gyeongsang Province), Korea, Empire of Japan.
His poetic methodology can be thus understood only in the context of his attitude towards life which functioned through the medium of clear, concrete images.
In addition to this emotional restraint, the poet also focuses on the virtue of decency, as an effective means of conveying sorrow.
This unspoken sorrow and contemplation of death ultimately leads to a more understated and more powerful impact on the reader.
Thus the most fundamental and important characteristic of Kim's poetry is in its extensive insight into life and the depth of the mind, through the cultivation of restraint, decency, and imagination.