MASTERPIECE OF LATE ARTIST LEE JUNG-SEOB

[Anchor Lead]

Lee Jung-seob was one of Korea's most popular artists. Another one of his masterpieces has been shown to the public for the first time. Deep in pain and despair, he completed his last work shortly before his death, expressing his longing to see his separated mother and family. Let's take a look.

[Pkg]

On a snowy day, a boy looks out the window and waits for someone. A woman holding a basket on her head is seen in the distance. It is his mother who he missed desperately. Lee Jung-seob's last days were plagued by poverty, illness and loneliness. The artist drew a painting to express his poignant affection for his separated family and mother who was left behind in North Korea. A snow-white bird at the center of the piece is a symbol of his heartbreak.

[Soundbite] CHO EUN-JEONG(ART HISTORIAN, GUEST PROFESSOR AT KOREA UNIVERSITY) : "It symbolizes his wish to hear from his mother in North Korea and his family staying in Japan."

The painting was named after the 1956 movie "River of No Return," which starred Marilyn Monroe. Shortly after his death, his neighbor and poet Cho Young-am contributed a eulogy for Lee to a magazine, revealing that the painting was given the title by the artist. There are five paintings of the same title, which were drawn in a similar composition. During his painful days, Lee created these similar works under the same theme to artistically embody the suffering of national division and separation from family.

[Soundbite] CHO EUN-JEONG(ART HISTORIAN, GUEST PROFESSOR AT KOREA UNIVERSITY) : "We see the work only through the name value of Lee Jung-seob. However, it represents the nation's history 70 years ago and the feelings of all people who lived in that era."

The great artist's last masterpiece will be open to the public until Wednesday.