The word that often comes to mind when discussing sculptor Kim Chong Yung’s work is the philosophy of Bulgak(不刻). Bulgak literally means ‘to not sculpt’ or ‘the refusal to sculpt.’ As it is implied in the word, Kim Chong Yung did not leave many work nor did he leave a masterpiece. In fact, Kim Chong Yung’s ambition as a sculptor, compared to his contemporaries, is considered rather modest. While exaggerated anecdotes related to bulgak misrepresent him and his art in an almost mythical fashion, that is not to say that Kim is an overrated artist. If his contribution to modern Korean sculpture cannot be denied, then his achievements and bulgak are not to be seen as polemics but rather the two sides of a coin. The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu defined symbolic struggle in two dimensions. First, the symbolic struggle is the practice of receiving recognition from competitors in a field, and second, it is the struggle to gain authority from the public in the social space outside the field. In view of the symbolic struggle, Kim Chong Yung’s bulgak can be understood to be a method that captures the essence of sculpture within the art world, and the struggle to have its value recognized in the social space. Kim Chong Yung’s bulgak carries two meanings. First is the denial of sculpture. Here, the sculpture is understood as the process and result of an artist projecting his or her intention to a material and artificially carving and controlling it. Kim Chong Yung practiced bulgak in refusal of such method. Second, bulgak indicates the minimalization of sculpting. In other words, by retaining a passive attitude towards a material, it is a method which aspires to bring out the most natural state of the material. Kim Chong Yung ironically affirmed the act of sculpting by refusing to sculpt.

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