Although the focus of his debut works, "Reed” (Galdae) and "Graveside Epitaph” (Myobi) is not restricted to the lives of farmers, the bulk of his remaining poems do treat that particular topic.

The poems of his first collection, Farmer's Dance (Nongmu, 1975), are coherent in their depiction of the actualities of farming life but retain a certain sense of poetic lyricism that lends them a measure of grace.

[1] While Shin's poetry is largely concerned with farmers and farming villages, he makes a great deal of effort to present them in their full historical and social context.

Always taking the side of the poor and oppressed, Shin displays more of a solemn ideology than a refined artistry, and composes verses reminiscent of folk songs in form and in that they are readily accessible to all readers.

Shin actually did borrow some technical elements from traditional Korean folk songs, such as the familiar rhythm of four beats and the patterns of repetition and refrain.