Rememory of Struggle through Literature
Hyun Ki-young

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While war and peace are on the opposite ends of the scale, void of war does not necessarily translate into peace - cold war, another form of war, is rarely regarded as peace. Korea, a nation that has sacrificed tremendous human lives during the Korean war, has been pegged at the forefront of the tensions during the cold war era and has lived as a divided nation representing both sides in one nation. While Americans enjoy the status of the top manager of the cold war as liberalists pursuing freedom, small and weak nations that have been incorporated in America's plans have ubiquitously suffered under dictatorship. A prominent example is none other than Korea. An ironic situation unfolded in Korea - It was included as one of the 'free nation league' led by the U.S. but at the same time was forced to accept to live in total lack of freedom.

A new government was established based on true democracy after the student-led revolution in 1960 in protest against the corrupt dictatorship of the Liberal Party which had witnessed the Korean war. The new government, however, was short-lived and was crushed by the military coup d'etat after only one year of existence. The military dictatorship employed ever more brutal and systematic method to remain in power. The establishment of the so-called October Revitalizing Reform, or Yushin, in 1972 was the harbinger of a dark period comparable to the Medieval Age due to its oppressionist rule. Military rule wielded its powers relentlessly against its people, unchallenged for nearly a quarter of a century until its demise in face of strong protests from the people in June 1987.

Under the pretext to ensure national stability and growth, the Yushin system degenerated the status of freedom to something to be protected rather than to be enjoyed. Such freedom demanded that the people put their lives in danger to protect 'freedom for display' and to put on hold the freedom for the majority of the general public to guarantee the freedom of a handful of the privileged.

The intellectuals had to undergo hardships in face of the ruthless and systematic destruction conducted by the ruling power. A considerable number of intellectuals succumbed to self-effacing pressure and turned into collaborators. They researched and provided method of governing techniques bordering on witchcraft for the ruling power and cast a web of false propaganda to the people for the purpose of maintaining the dictatorship regime. Another group of intellectuals which existed during the Yushin period resorted to indifference, or neutrality according their terms, standing awkwardly somewhere between the dictatorship and the people. Such group of literatis included those insisting on the artistic value or purity of literature no matter how severe the adversity lies before them. They chose to stay silent in face of catastrophe, Yushin. They failed to protest against the wrong and looked the other way from the truth. There must have been those among them who agonized over the fact that silence meant consent. True intellect under such circumstances meant resistance not submission. As darkness grew deeper, a flickering light of resistance lit up. Those were the seeds of creation, of life amid absolute darkness. The creators were survivors of the destructive force which deprived liberty, the essence of life and the plot to sap life out of the people across the nation. The sporadic act of resistance took on a more systematic approach and grew into a formidable body of resistance. Arrests, torture, and imprisonment which ensued only added fuel to the fire which spread like wildfire among students and intellectuals who became bolder, oftentimes sacrificing themselves. (the rest omitted)