It is hoped that the present volume gives some idea about modern Korean poetry in terms of subject matter, themes and modes of expression. The majority of the poems have been taken from among the most widely read and best-loved poems. The present book, however, cannot claim to present a satisfactory cross-section of modern Korean poetry. Among other things, the poems presented in volume where chosen largely on the basis of the degree to which individual poems rendered themselves to translation into the English language and partly on the personal preferences of the translator (from the Introduction).