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The original manuscript of "Baekbeom Ilji" goes on public display to mark the 150th anniversary of Kim Koo's birth, an occasion designated as a UNESCO anniversary year. / Baekbeom Kim Koo Museum

The original manuscript of "Baekbeom Ilji" (Journal of Baekbeom) will be unveiled to the public in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Kim Koo’s birth, an occasion officially designated by UNESCO as a globally recognized anniversary year.

The Association for Commemorative Services for Patriot Kim Koo and the Baekbeom Kim Koo Museum announced that a special exhibition titled "Kim Koo's Dream, Read by the World" will run from June 16 to 30 at the museum's grand conference room. The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. on June 15.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the handwritten original manuscript of Baekbeom Ilji, which was designated as a national treasure in 1997. The manuscript is a deeply personal autobiography penned by Kim Koo at the risk of his life during the era of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Written in a vertical format blending Korean and Chinese characters, the massive volume has long been kept away from public viewing due to strict conservation requirements.

The term "Ilji" in the title signifies an "unrecorded chronicle" rather than a conventional daily diary. Kim wrote the text in the spirit of a final will and testament addressed to his two sons, constantly facing the imminent threat of death. The first volume was completed in Shanghai in 1929, followed by the second volume in Chongqing in 1942. The first printed edition was subsequently published in 1947 by Kuksawon following Korea's liberation.

Alongside the handwritten original, foreign editions translated into six languages—English, German, French, Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolian—will be showcased. To mark the 150th anniversary of his birth, a brand-new French translation was published this year, while the English and Japanese editions have been newly translated and updated into contemporary prose for modern readers. Boasting a cumulative sales volume of over 10 million copies since its initial print, Baekbeom Ilji is widely revered as a quintessential classic in Korean publishing history.

The exhibition layout opens with an introductory section illuminating Kim Koo's life and his lifelong dedication to the independence movement, followed by a structured historical timeline documenting the publication journey of the autobiography's various editions. The event concludes with an interactive epilogue space where visitors can write down and share a single sentence expressing their own wishes for the world today.

"UNESCO's designation of 2026 as a globally recognized anniversary year for the 150th anniversary of Kim Koo's birth reflects international validation that he was not merely an independence activist, but a visionary thinker who sought to achieve universal human peace through the power of culture," a museum official remarked. "In 'My Desire,' the famous final chapter of his autobiography, Kim eloquently stated that the only thing he wished to possess in infinite measure was the power of culture."

                                                                                                            Lee Han-sol