What Are the Four Axes of Korea Haiku?

The Korea Haiku Federation has organized four core concepts to describe the creation, reading, criticism, and study of Korea Haiku more systematically: Gyejeolmal, Gyeotmal, Ulteomal, and Deotjitgi. These terms were proposed by Dr. Kim Suseong and formally seconded by Dr. An Soohyun as key concepts of Korea Haiku.

First, the axis of time is Gyejeolmal (Seasonal Word). A Gyejeolmal establishes the poem’s seasonal time and evokes change in nature and everyday life. It may come from plants and animals, but also from seasonal customs, food, work, school life, travel, play, sound, or scent—any area of lived experience in which seasonality is felt. For this reason, Gyejeolmal should not be treated merely as another name for the Japanese kigo; within Korea Haiku it is used to explore seasonal language as it arises from Korean nature and lived culture.

Second, the axis of scene is Gyeotmal (Companion Word). A Gyeotmal does not explain the Gyejeolmal. It works beside it, bringing in place, objects, sound, smell, light, movement, and lived memory so that the scene becomes concrete. If “buckwheat blossom” functions as a Gyejeolmal, words such as field path, moonlight, market, or white wind may function as Gyeotmal within the poem.

Third, the axis of place is Ulteomal (Place-Memory Word). An Ulteomal is more than a place name. It is a word for a place that calls up accumulated personal and communal memory, emotion, history, and lived experience. Names such as Busan Station, the Nakdong River, Jagalchi Market, or Bongpyeong gain the force of Ulteomal when they meet the memories of actual lives.

Fourth, the axis of memory and transmission is Deotjitgi (Creative Recomposition). Deotjitgi is a way of creating a new poem by adding present experience and a new perspective to earlier poems, folktales, historical records, folk songs, paintings, photographs, local traditions, or cultural memory. It is not simple imitation or repetition, but a creative meeting of past and present.

Not every poem must contain all four axes at once. In one poem, Gyejeolmal and Gyeotmal may be central; in another, Ulteomal or Deotjitgi may become more prominent. The point is not to insert the four concepts as a checklist, but to observe how time, scene, place, and memory connect to form a single poetic moment.

Think of one scene around you today. What word reveals its seasonal time? What objects and sounds stand beside it? What memories have gathered in that place? Korea Haiku’s four axes begin to move from precisely these questions.