'Gobau': the public voice of the times.

(From The Korea Herald)

By O Youn-hee Though news reports discuss social issues at length, sometimes a photograph more vividly shows the hunger of Rwanda, devastation in Iraq and the Tiananmen massacre. Similarly, news columns and editorials criticize the mistakes of governments both logically and analytically, but it is the political cartoon that can prove cathartic to the public who are dissatisfied with governmental policies.

"Gobau," the representative political cartoon named after its main character who sports thick glasses and a single strand of hair, has been beloved by the Korean public for more than 50 years because of its apt remarks on social issues and keen sense of humor.

Kim Song-hwan, 70, the creator of "Gobau" is showing eight of his works with 19 other newspaper cartoonists at The Invitation of Korean Political Cartoonists exhibit that began Sept. 27 and will continue until Oct. 12 at the Seoul Animation Center.

"We gathered together to boost Korean newspaper cartoons," said Kim. Kim debuted in the world of political cartoons by accident in 1949 as a high school student and ended up publishing "Gobau" in three influential newspapers; The Dong-A Ilbo from 1955 to 1980, The Chosun Ilbo from 1980 to 1987 and in The Munhwa Ilbo from 1992 to 2000.

As well as earning public acclaim and popularity, "Gobau" was copyrighted in 1969 and is one of the longest running serialized political cartoon in the world. Among the more than 10,000 pieces in the "Gobau" series, cartoons that satirize the autocracy of the ...