Today, the night is no longer a time of sleep. Even after darkness falls, cities filled with lights remain lively, and our daily lives continue without pause. Yet such freedom of the nighttime was not granted to us from the start.
For centuries, darkness severely limited our activities, and the extent of the night available to us remained confined to the small circle illuminated by candlelight. The introduction of electric lighting gradually brightened the streets, but that did not immediately guarantee freedom. The curfew, in effect from 1945 until 1982, deprived people of the right to enjoy the night.
When the curfew was lifted in 1982, Koreans finally regained a complete twenty-four hours. The initial sense of release briefly turned the night into a space of unrestrained revelry, but before long, the night settled into what it is today-a time open to everyone, a shared and accessible part of daily life.

Night offers a time to confront the honest emotions residing deep within the heart. As the clamor of the world subsides and serene darkness settles in, thoughts and feelings unlike those of the daytime begin to surface. Sometimes we feel melancholic for no particular reason, and sometimes, overwhelmed by inexplicable emotions, we post sentimental messages on social media.
These nighttime feelings are not unique to the present. Long ago, people too spent sleepless nights turning over their worries, or wrote tender letters to loved ones as their thoughts deepened in the dark.
Though the scenery of night has changed greatly with time, the deep sentiment it evokes continues to resonate across generations. Following the traces left by people from different eras, we discover that the same thread of feeling joins their nights and ours.