kim sang-ok was born on march 15, 1920 in tongyeong, kyeongsangnam-do, korea and died on october 31, 2004. kim's sobriquet was chojeong. during his life, kim was repeatedly imprisoned for spreading anti-japanese sentiments. in 1938, along with kim yongho and ham yunsu, kim participated in the literary group that produced the magazine 'barley', in which kim published the poems "a grain of sand” (moraeal) and "the tea room” (dabang) in 1938. following korean liberation, kim taught at masan high school, busan girls' high school, and gyeongnam girls' high school. he founded the tongyeong writers' association in 1956.