식민지기 한센병 환자를 둘러산 죽음과 생존

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to describe how Hansen’s disease patients experienced modern control system of Hansen’s disease, introduced by Japan, and inimical attitude of Joseon society against them in the colonial Joseon. Also, it is to reveal there was a system to massacre Hansen’s disease patients from their home and community to bigger society and leprosarium in this era. Sorokdo Charity hospital (SCH), a hospital just for Hasens’s disease patients, was built in 1916, and vagrant Hansen’s disease patients began to be isolated here from 1917 by the Japanese Government-General of Joseon(JGGJ). Once the police detained and sent vagrant Hansen’s disease patients to SCH, stigma and discrimination against them strengthened in Joseon society. Because of strong stigma and discrimination in Joseon society, Hansen’s disease patients had been suffered from daily threat of death. First, their family members were not only afraid of contagiousness of Hansen’s disease, but also stigma and discrimination to themselves from community members. If in the one’s family, there was a Hansen’s disease patient, the rest of community members would discriminate it. Also, because the Hansen’s disease patients were excluded from any economic lives such as getting a job, the existence of the patients were for their family big burden. Therefore, many patients left their home and began their vagrancy. The patients who could not leave their home committed suicide or were killed by their family members. However, the victims were usually at the lower position in the family hierarchy, women. In the strong Confucian society, more female patients were killed by themselves than male patients. Also all of patients victims in the murder were women. This shows that stigma and discrimination against the patients in family more exerted women than men. Strong stigma and discrimination made the patients rely on superstition such as cannibalism. They thought there were not any effective medicine while a few patients were cured and many were threated by chaulmoogra oil in the modern Hansen’s disease hospitals. Eating human flesh was known as folk remedy for Hansen’s disease. Therefore, the patients began to kill healthy people, usually children, to eat victims’ flesh. More stigma was strengthen, more victims occurred. Hansen’s disease patients who left their home faced many threats during their vagrancy. For survival they established their own organizations in the late 1920’s. The patients who were rejected to be hospitalized in the Western Hansen’s disease hospital at Busan, Daegu, and Yeosu respectively organized self-help organizations. The purpos of these organizations were first to secure medicine supply, chaulmoogra oil. However, stigma and discrimination were strengthened, these patient organizations demanded the Japanese Government-General of Joseon to send and segregate them in Sorok island. They did not know the situation of the inside of this island because mews media described this island as heaven for the patients, and very few patients were discharged from this island to tell the truth. In this island, several hundred of patients were killed by compulsory heavy labour, starvation, and violence. They were not treated as patients, but as something to be eliminated. Under strong suppression in this island, the patients resisted first by escaping this island. However, in 1937, some patients tried to kill Korean staff but failed. Attempted murderers were all put in the jail, located in this island. In 1941, a patient murdered another patient who harassed other patients, and in 1942, Chunsang Lee, a patient killed the director of Sorok island. For these reasons, it can be said there was a system to eliminate Hansen’s disease patients in the colonial Joseon.