earticle

영어

In this article, how a common person could be condemned as a ‘Red,’ and what kind of painful life that person would have to live, is examined through some oral documents collected by an old man who had relevant experiences. The objective of this effort is to demand people to recollect upon the past of the Korean people, which sometimes condemned a person’s simple effort to live a human life as a mere scheme of a ‘Red,’ and forced that individual to live a life full of pain, with no right to speak out.
Kim Chul-hwan, the person whose life is examined in this article, was born from a disastrously poor peasantry house. He spent the whole Japanese colonial period to escape that miserable life, which by his description bordered upon the life of a ‘slave.’ Even after the liberation, the Korean society was still in shambles, and survival was his first and foremost priority. Yet at the same time, he was greatly inspired by a certain Socialist who happened to be living in the same village, earning Kim’s respect. With such influence, Kim came to believe that a new kind of life was possible, and came to sympathize and even join the left-wing activities. After the war broke out, and under the rule of the North Korean Communist government, he did not engage in much activities, yet was involved in the land reform efforts as a village representative. In the process of land reform he was almost accused of being a ‘reactionary’ for distributing lands to even Catholic believers, yet stuck to his convictions as he believed in a ‘fair and equal society.’ Yet when the tides of the war turned, he suddenly found himself in a world where having such convictions was considered to be a crime. He was declared as a ‘Red,’ and was forced to live with such stigma his entire life, even after the war. He still has to cry that “I’m not a Red.”
Kim Chul-hwan sympathized with Communism out of the most basic desire a person can have, hoping for the simple goal to be accomplished, to make the world a ‘fair and equal place where everyone could live together.’ He was neither systematically trained with ideology, nor ventured out to engage in some actions. He did not resent or oppress people whose situations and convictions were different from his own. He tried to live together with them. Is it remotely fair to condemn his life as a life led by a ‘Red,’ and can it be ever justified to force him to live a life full of pain and oppression? Calling a person ‘Red’ is not simply referring to an individual as a ‘Socialist.’ It is one of the most oppressive forms of violence perpetrated by the state, against a personal choice which consciously chose to reject an ideology or philosophy forcibly suggested by an anti-Communist regime, which would literally label such choice as a willful act of defying the state and the country. In that regard, Kim Chul-hwan’s crying for ‘not being a Red’ was not a simple denial against accusations of him being a Socialist. His sentiment was not that of a victimized. He has been resisting, with all the fiver in his being, the anti-Communist violence which did not grant him the respect he deserved as a person, and which condemned all his efforts and intentions to live a life as a human being, as a scheme of a ‘Red.’

한국어

이 글은 지극히 평범한 한 인물이 어떻게 ‘빨갱이’로 몰리고 어떠한 고통을 받았는가를 구술사 방법을 통해 살펴본다.이를 통해 인간답게 살아보려는 몸부림을‘빨갱이’로 낙인찍어 한평생 고통과 침묵 속에 살게 만들었던 우리의 과거에 대한 성찰을 촉구한다. 이 글의 주인공인 김철환은 비참하도록 가난한 집에서 태어나 그의 표현에 따르면 ‘노예’ 같은 삶에서 벗어나기 위해 몸부림치면서 식민지기를 지냈다. 해방 후 전사회적인 격동 속에서도 그에게는 생존 그 자체가 가장 절실했지만, 한편으로는 평소에 존경하던 같은 마을의 어떤 사회주의자를 통해 새로운 삶의 가능성을 발견하면서 좌익세력에 동조하게 된다. 전쟁이 발발하고 인민공화국 통치하에서 그는 두드러진 활동을 하지는 않았지만 토지개혁 과정에 마을 간부로 관여하였다. 이 과정에서 천주교도에게도 토지를 분배했다는 이유로‘반동’으로 몰릴 뻔하면서도‘다 같이 공평하게 살자’는 자신의 원칙을 고집스레 지켰다. 그러나 전세가 뒤집히자‘다 같이 공평하게 사는 세상’을 꿈꾸었던 것이 죄가 되는 세상이 되었다. 한번 ‘빨갱이’로 낙인찍힌 그는 전쟁이 끝난 뒤에도 한평생을 그 멍에 속에서 살아야 했다. 그리고 그는 오늘도‘나는 빨갱이가 아니다’라고 절규한다.
김철환은‘다 같이 공정하고 공평하게 사는 세상’이라는 원초적인 욕망의 수준에서 사회주의에 공명했을지언정 하나의 체계화된 이념으로 무장한 것도, 또 특출하게 나서서 행동한 것도 없었다. 오히려 그는 자신과는 처지와 신념이 다른 사람들을 원망하고 핍박하기보다는 그들과도 더불어 살고자 노력했다. 이러한 삶을 과연‘빨갱이’라고 규정하여 모진 고통과 핍박 속에 한평생을 살게 한 것이 온당한 것이었을까? ‘빨갱이’라는 말은 ‘사회주의자’를 지시하는 말이 아니라 반공국가가 강요하는 이념이나 사고에 복종하지 않는 것 일체를 국가와 민족에 반하는 자로 몰아붙여 탄압하는 일종의 국가폭력이다. 이러한 의미에서‘나는 빨갱이가 아니다’는 김철환의 절규는 단순히 피해 의식에 젖어‘나는 사회주의자가 아니다’라고 항변하는 것이 아니라, 인간답게 살아보려던 몸부림을‘빨갱이’로 매도하여 인간 이하의 취급을 해왔던 반공주의 폭력에 대한 저항의 외침인 것이다.