Baek Musan (; born 1955) is a South Korean poet and labor activist.
Life
Baek Mu-san was born in 1955 in Yeongcheon, Gyeongbuk. His birth name is Baek Bong-seok. In 1974 he began working as a laborer at Hyundai Heavy Industries, and then in 1984 he started his literary career as he published "" (지옥선 Hell Boat) in the first volume of (민중시 The People's Poem). He was the editor of (노동해방문학 Labor Liberation Literature), and he has been arrested in 1992 for violation of national security law. Since his debut in 1984, Baek Mu-san received much attention as a writer who had been a conglomerate factory worker. He is seen as one of the poets that represent 1980s labor poetry along with Park Nohae.
Particularly, for his poetry collection (동트는 미포만의 새벽을 딛고 Stepping Upon the Early Morning of Mipo Bay at Dawn) (Nodong Munhaksa, 1990), he received much attention by writing the Ulsan Hyundai Heavy Industries full scale strike that occurred for 4 months from late 1988 and early 1989 into a one long poem. It was also seen as having directly expressed the fight of the labor class, announcing for ‘gaining power for the labor class through political organization. Baek Mu-san was active constantly after the 1990s as well, widening his scope of interest from living conditions of laborers to criticizing the root of the violent nature of capital and environmental problems, writing poetry that delves into the causes of human existence that has overcome capital's value. For his poetry collections, he has (만국의 노동자여 Workers of the World) (Cheongsa, 1989), (동트는 미포만의 새벽을 딛고 Stepping Upon the Early Morning of Mipo Bay at Dawn) (Nodong Munhaksa, 1990), Inganui Sigan (인간의 시간 The Time of Humans) (Changbi, 1996), (길은 광야의 것이다 The Path Belongs to the Field) (Changbi, 1999), (초심 The Original Intention) (Silcheon Munhaksa, 2003), (길 밖의 길 The Road Outside of the Road) (Galmuri, 2004), (거대한 일상 The Giant Daily Life) (Changbi, 2008), and (그 모든 가장자리 All the Edges) (Changbi, 2012). For his poetry anthologies there is (그대 없이 저녁은 오고 The Evening Comes Without You) (ZMANZ, 2012). He was also the editor of (완전에 가까운 결단 A Decision Near Perfection) (Galmuri, 2009), which was a tributary poetry collection for Jeon Tae-il, along with Maeng Mun-jae and Jo Jeong Hwan. He was awarded the first Isan Literary Award in 1989, the 12th Manhae Literature Prize in 1997, the second Oh Jang-hwan Literature Prize in 2009, and the first Imhwa Literature Prize in 2009. He was also the recipient of the 20th Daesan Literary Award for Poetry in 2012. He won the Baek Seok Literary Award in 2015.