[남산 Ddalggakbari] Did Only Men Participate in the Democratization Movement?

Book Review - 'Those Imprisoned in the World of Words'

In an interrogation room on the 5th floor of the Seoul Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Investigation Office, a person sits in the middle of a narrow, dark room with their hands and feet tied with cords and their face covered with a mesh. Thick interrogation records and objects presumed to be torture instruments are placed on the table. About seven men wearing black-toned jumpers stand around him.

Imagine the person sitting in the chair, pale with fear, and his face. It would certainly be a man's face. "Those Imprisoned in the World of Words" raises a question about this taken-for-granted imagination.

◆ The blood, sweat, and sacrifice of women concealed under the cause of the democratization movement

The history of Korea's democratization movement has run parallel to the struggle against the National Security Law. Women were certainly present at the sacred sites of this struggle. However, they are absent from records and memories. Women also raised their voices and shed blood and sweat. But they remain nowhere. The empty space was filled by men. Men monopolized the symbolic capital of the democratization movement.

"In Korean society, where male chauvinism still strongly operates, and within social movements that cannot be free from that sphere, women's experiences, voices, and places are often empty or omitted."

The existence of women who cared for husbands or sons imprisoned under the National Security Law and led campaigns for their release was not well revealed. There were even women who were imprisoned for violating the National Security Law, subjected to intense interrogation, and suffered miscarriages. Yet the era completely forgot their pain and sacrifice. This remains true even as the democratization generation entered institutional politics under the name '386' and today has become the '586' establishment class.

A daughter asks her mother, "Mom, why couldn't you become like those people?"

People who fought against the dictatorship and participated in the democratization movement in their youth have become Blue House officials, ministers, and members of the National Assembly, but why is mom just an 'ajumma' (middle-aged woman)? The mother has nothing to say. She is only overwhelmed by the feeling that she lost the time, identity, history, and stories she had built up as 'herself' until her twenties while getting married, giving birth, and raising children.

Even women who occasionally appeared were narrated, mobilized, and positioned by someone else. "Those Imprisoned in the World of Words" is also an attempt to deconstruct women who were marginalized despite being on the front lines of the struggle and femininity portrayed only as passive existence.

This begins with the belief and courage that "now women must speak." "Until now, women's voices have not been heard. We were told that women's voices should not cross the fence and that if a hen crows, the house will be ruined. Now it is women's turn to speak, and it is the era for women to speak."

Room 10 on the 5th floor of the former 'Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Investigation Office' in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Unlike Room 9, which has been preserved in its original form, the bathtub has been removed and the interior structure has been altered.

◆ The tragedy and comedy of the National Security Law

The courage and voices of these women reveal that the National Security Law, which is summoned only as a tragedy, is also a kind of comedy.

"Sir, my period started." The woman had no way to deal with it in the torture interrogation room. The investigator bought sanitary pads and panties. The investigator bragged to his colleagues, "Do you know how embarrassing it was? I've never bought sanitary pads or panties for a woman in my life." The woman said, "Sir, why do you do a job that tortures people? You should change your profession." The investigator's incredulous expression remained long in the woman's memory.

Years later, the woman heard that 'torture technician' Lee Geun-an had become a pastor. His face appeared on a broadcast. The woman was shocked. At that moment, that investigator... the man who tortured, bought panties, and even bragged about it was now active as a pastor in the democratization era. The comedy of the National Security Law has not ended.

South Korea is a country where two human rights lawyers have become presidents. One might ask, "What National Security Law are we talking about?"

In May 2020, the Supreme Court convicted a former Unified Progressive Party member of violating the National Security Law for singing the "Revolutionary Comrade" song. The charge was for leading the "Revolutionary Comrade" at a Unified Progressive Party event on June 21, 2012, and possessing pro-North Korean materials. The number of National Security Law violation cases increased from 120 in 2017, when the Moon Jae-in administration began, to 144 the following year, reaching 305 last year.

Those most harmed by the National Security Law now hold power. However, the blade of reform is not directed at the National Security Law. It is nothing but irony. In the 21st general election, the ruling coalition won an overwhelming victory with 180 seats. Yet they remain completely silent regarding the National Security Law. It seems the trauma remains that the participatory government’s attempt to abolish the National Security Law led to the regime’s downfall.

The ruling party is even silent about the Anti-Terrorism Act, called the "second National Security Law." This is the very "evil law" they tried to block by filibuster (unlimited debate to legally obstruct parliamentary proceedings) when they were in opposition.

The exterior view of the National Police Agency Namyeong-dong Human Rights Center (formerly the Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Investigation Office of the Security Headquarters). The narrow windows on the 5th floor of the building, where torture and interrogations took place, stand out.

The National Security Law is certainly not just a simple piece of legislation. As a product of division, the National Security Law itself functions as a system as long as North Korea exists. It is necessary to acknowledge that this issue cannot be resolved simply by election results or the will of the government and ruling party.

However, it is not too late to start raising the issue and gathering public opinion immediately. Reconstructing the discourse surrounding the National Security Law based on diverse social and cultural approaches and reflections must precede. This must begin by listening to women's voices. "Now women must speak. Women's speaking is resistance and struggle."

(Those Imprisoned in the World of Words ? The National Security Law Seen Through Women's Narratives / Hong Semi, Lee Ho-yeon et al. / Maywol's Spring 18,000 KRW)