한국 전쟁과 장사에 나선 여성들의 삶 - 서울에 정착한 타지역 출신들을 중심으로 -

Abstract

The present study purposed to examine changes in Korean women’s life, particularly focused on trading women who came from other provinces and settled in Seoul after the Korean War. The results of this study are as follows. During the Korean War, many women had to leave their hometown to find refuge. Different from men, most of women were evacuated involuntarily. On the other hand, women who cooperated with the Korean Army as a business left their hometown voluntarily. The motives for South Korean women to have left their hometown were job and relief after losing the husband and parents to the war, family trouble, poverty, yearning for Seoul, etc. In addition, contacting women on the way to refuge, they found that it was not difficult to leave the hometown, which was usually a premodern farm village. Women who had come to South Korea settled in Seoul after staying in another area for a while. Women in South Korea first went to Busan, the temporary capital, and settled in Seoul after the city was restored, or some moved from premodern farm villages directly to Seoul without staying in another area. The difference in restoration between Seoul and other areas provided Seoul with the background that attracted women from North Korea as well as those from other areas. The reason that women from other areas began trading in Seoul was that they had to support their families due to absence of male family members, male members’ inability or family members’ inability. Thus, their engagement in trading was less voluntary than forced by the war. At the same time, their business was much different depending on whether or not they had dependents. Even if there were dependents, if there was another responsible woman in the family, the woman played the role of an assistant. Most of those who were engaged in trading after the war were women. As they started their business, the composition of merchants in the market was changed considerably. The number of large scale merchants decreased, and more than 70% of the merchants were new beginners after the war. Among the stores, retailers occupied 90%. These changes were the results of women’s participation in the market. What is more, women from North Korea ran their business aggressively from the early period after the war, and they had a significant influence on women from other areas in South Korea. Until the late 1950s, women’s trading had become common regardless of their marital status. Trading women were sometimes sympathized with by the government, society and family, but in most cases they were treated unfavorably. Because of their shortage of capital, they were commonly engaged in illegal trading. Thus, the government sometimes wielded its authority to crack down on such women. However, they resisted stubbornly in order to support their families, and in the course, they learned how to survive the society. As many men had lost their lives in the war, women assumed their role by conducting economic activities not temporary or subsidiary but continuous and changed their own life as well as the society.