Our Twisted Hero
June 17, 2020
This post is related to our podcast episode - Our Twisted Hero by Yi Mun Yol.
In Chapter 1, Han-Pyeontae is introduced to his teacher and notices he has White Rice Wine. It's called Makgeolli!
What is Makgeolli? 막걸리
Makgeolli, as mentioned in our Episode in South Korea, is a rice wine. It's creamy and milky texture make it a delight and it can come in plain and many other different flavors:
banana
apricot
strawberry
mango
kiwi
yogurt
...or pretty much any fruit! It's great!
People often enjoy eating it with fried seafood, or pajeon which is a soft flour-based pancake usually packed with vegetables. It is also best enjoyed with friends. A popular way to drink Makgeolli is to mix it with soju. A popular game is to put a shot glass in the Makgeolli and slowly fill the shot glass with soju until it finally sinks! The person who sinks the glass must drink the entire cup of Makgeolli and Soju mixture.
The traditional way to drink it is out of small bronze tin saucers. But anything will do!
Drink up!
Gwangju Massacre
This is a tragic but historic event for South Korea. And it is essentially the allegory of this story in Our Twisted Hero.
If you don't know about it...you should.
You can start by reading here.
"Kwangju Uprising, also called Kwangju Rebellion, Kwangju also spelled Gwangju, mass protest against the South Korean military government that took place in the southern city of Kwangju between May 18 and 27, 1980. Nearly a quarter of a million people participated in the rebellion. Although it was brutally repressed and initially unsuccessful in bringing about democratic reform in South Korea it is considered to have been a pivotal moment in the South Korean struggle for democracy." (source britannica website)
It started really with the coup led by General Park Chung-Hee. The coup occurred in 1961 and ended the newly budding South Korean democracy from taking hold. Park ruled as dictator from then until October 26, 1979 when he was assassinated by Kim Jae-kyu, the Director of Central Intelligence.
General Park Chung-Hee had been an junior officer in the Japanese Army during World War II and reached General in Korea.
He believed the state should be the central planner of the growth of economy. He also believed in strong nationalism. The combination of the two were not good.
While many point out the vast economic growth, called the Economic Miracle, that had occurred during his dictatorship, it was also plagued with many costs. He suppressed dissent increasingly harshly in Korea and actively suppressed true free democracy. He controlled the press and universitites. He introduced the Yushin Constitution which extended his powers essentially for life as ruler. His creation of the KCIA, Korean Central Intelligence Agency, was really just a way to keep eyes on opposition domestic and abroad. In sum, if you were a civilian or bank or business and Park wanted you do to something to elevate the economy, there was no saying no.
After Park was assassinated, martial law was declared, the Parliament was disbanded, and public meetings of more than three people were banned. On December 12, 1979, Army Security Commander General Chun Doo-Hwan seized power with the military.
Chun severely punished any political dissent and extended martial law to the entire country using military and police forces to enforce his bidding.
Kwangju, a capital in South Jeolla, in southwestern Korea, resisted real and virtual signs of dictatorship.
May 18th, about 600 students protested. Soon it escalated when government forces were ordered to remove the protests. 600 grew to the thousands as civilians joined in to aid the students who were being beaten and shot. They seized weapons in the police stations and armories and fought the forces out of the city. Chun responded days later by sending in tanks and other heavily armed vehicles of the military. Many civilians were killed as a result.
While the protest failed in one way, it sparked the country in another. It powered a public outcry across South Korea that led to Chun's resignation. After that several democratic elections were able to take place and South Korean had begun their free democracy.
Our Twisted Hero and The Kwangju Massacre
We can compare the book easily in a few ways to this story. One, Om Sokdae did make the class flourish under his dictatorial rule, but at the cost to everyone's freedom. This shines very well in the book in many ways, one as an allegory to General Chun-hee's rule. Furthermore, Pyeongtae discusses the elections held after Om Sokdae disappears. He discusses the pardons those who helpd Sokdae got. There were real pardons too that Kim Dae-Jung, the second president of Korea, gave to players in the 1979 coup and Kwangju Massacre. (Which if you ask me is shocking).
The story reflects many of the events and lessons learned by this historical event.
Kimbap
Kimbap is a popular dish of usually rice, vegetables, egg or meats, rolled in dried seaweed.
There can be many types:
Classic kimbap
Tuna
Kimchi
Pork Cutlet
the options are pretty much endless to the imagination
South Korea's History is full of fascinating stories like this one. Kwangju massacre is a dense detailed story with rich complex backstory that I urge you to look into further.
Thanks for reading. If you haven't yet, listen to the episode OUR TWISTED HERO on our podcast page!
(sources: britannica - "Kwangju Uprising", thoughtco - "The Gwangju Massacre, 1980,