비전향장기수와 ‘갇힌 몸’의 삶, 그리고 정동

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between the bodies and ideologies of unconverted long-term prisoners from the perspective of affect, through the novel of Kim Ha-gi. This focuses on the suffering bodies of unconverted long-term prisoners, and attempts to explore the ethical tension inherent in the act of articulating others' suffering. In Kim Ha-gi’s texts, the unconverted long-term prisoners are particularly described as shedding many tears. This affective plethora is due to the fact that unconverted long-term prisoners were controlled in a way that reduced their body's abilities as much as possible. Every time they experienced physical pain, the prisoners lost their sense of time and were thrown into moments of narrative wreckage. Each time, they sought to restore the narrative of their interrupted lives through storytelling. Strangely enough, the revolutionary optimism they show makes the observer feel cruelty. This is because the optimism inherent in their attachment to ideology constantly threatens their well-being. However, this recognition of cruelty is based on the perspective of an “observer” who has never been a “trapped body.” The conversion system was replaced by the law-abiding oath system in 1998 and abolished in 2003, but it still detains the bodies of unconverted long-term prisoners while deciding whether to repatriate them to North Korea. The case of unconverted long-term prisoners who were not repatriated to North Korea for having embraced religion and thus being considered a convert, questions who is the subject that cruelly shapes their optimism about unification. Therefore, remembering the “trapped bodies” of unconverted long-term prisoners would be the minimum ethical practice.