Solidarity Through the Brush: 25 Works by Park Jaedong

Among the 127 SAF 2026 artists, Park Jaedong submitted the most — 25 works in total. 6 watercolor originals, 15 art prints, plus the Roh Moo-hyun series. What conviction lies behind that choice?

The Artist Who Submitted the Most

A single number catches the eye first. 25.

127 artists joined SAF 2026, with 354 works hanging in total. On average, each artist submitted 2 to 3 pieces. But Park Jaedong alone submitted 25.

It was not simply about quantity. He composed the range carefully — from ₩300,000 art prints to watercolor originals in the millions of won. He opened the door as wide as possible so that as many people as could afford it would find a way in.

The Brush That Changed Hankyoreh's Front Page

Park Jaedong is a political cartoonist and watercolor painter. From the early days of Hankyoreh's founding (1988), he drew political cartoons. His brush twisted political power and compressed the contradictions of the era into caricature. On the front page of a newspaper — the most public space — he cast the sharpest gaze.

But look at his watercolors, and another Park Jaedong appears.

Instead of the cartoonist's sharpness, the soft tones of transparent watercolor spreading like bleed. Cityscape (2001), Boy by the Sea (2000), Hometown Village Scene (2002). A gaze that quietly looks into a single moment of ordinary life. The cartoonist's edge and the watercolorist's lyricism come from the same tip of the brush. Only the direction differs.

Park Jaedong, Cityscape, 2001, Watercolor, 34.5x24cm

The Composition of 25: A Strategy of Access

Open Park Jaedong's submission list and a structure appears.

The watercolor originals are in the ₩3–5 million range. Cityscape, Boy by the Sea, Hometown Village Scene, Girl, Woman, and others. These are the only works his hand touched directly.

The 15 art prints are ₩300,000 each. Grandmother — Oh My Grandson, Candlelight, Han River Bank, Lovers Under Moonlight, Fly, Fly — the modest landscapes and figures he has been drawing for decades. ₩300,000. Not an impossible sum.

There is also the Roh Moo-hyun series. Roh Moo-hyun, a watercolor piece (₩1.5M), along with a bundle of five. Park Jaedong has long painted the former president. Those works now emerge into this field of solidarity.

To submit the most work is to place the largest bet.

Park Jaedong, Candlelight, 2017, Art print, 30x30cm

The Transparency of Watercolor

Watercolor resists overpainting. Once a color bleeds, it is hard to take back. That is why a watercolorist must, in the end, reveal himself. Even when things do not go to plan, the painting is completed by accepting them.

That is why Park Jaedong's watercolors have been loved for so long. Honesty stands ahead of technique. A grandmother's gaze at her grandson, the ripples on the Han River at sunset, the expression of a young girl. They bleed like pigment and sink into the surface.

In his cartoons, he criticized society. In his watercolors, he recorded people. Both come from one consistent concern of Park Jaedong as an artist. How people live, and how that life holds dignity.

Park Jaedong, Boy by the Sea, 2000, Watercolor

What 25 Works Will Create

SAF's structure is this. When a work sells, the revenue flows into the mutual-aid fund. The Korea SMART Cooperative operates the fund, and partner financial institutions lend artists about seven times its size at a fixed 5% annual rate. There is no credit check.

Since December 2022, 354 loans have been issued through this structure. Total disbursement: about ₩700 million. Repayment rate: 95%. In a reality where 84.9% of Korean artists are excluded from institutional finance and 48.6% are pushed toward high-interest private lending, these numbers are not small.

If all 25 of Park Jaedong's works sell, the revenue will run from millions to tens of millions of won. Added to the fund, several more artists can knock on the door.

The Name of This Solidarity

Park Jaedong made no grand declaration as he submitted to SAF. He stated his position simply by submitting the most work.

One of 127 artists submitted 25 pieces. The 25 are arranged across a wide range — from ₩300,000 art prints to originals in the millions of won. There is a price anyone can match with at least one piece.

That is the form of solidarity Park Jaedong chose. With the brush, with color, and with numbers.