Description: (Poet)
Cho Ki-chon, a Russian-born North Korean poet, was recognized as a national poet and regarded as the "founding father of North Korean poetry." He was sent by Soviet authorities to Korea in 1945 and played a crucial role in molding the cultural institutions of the new state following the Soviet model. Cho made significant contributions to the development of socialist realism in North Korean literature and arts. He furthered Kim Il Sung's cult of personality through works like "Mt. Paektu" and composed propaganda poems during the Korean War, ultimately meeting his end in an American bombing raid.