by Kevin Brown
PARAHAN
The Earth We Live on Has Been
an Imprisonment System
KEVIN BROWN
PARAHAN Copyright © 2018 by KEVIN BROWN.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, whom may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Printed in the United States of America
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-9802-6912-0
Contents
PROLOGUE
A CONCENTRATION CAMP ON THE ISLAND 1 ～ 2
EVERYDAY LIFE
OUT INTO THE WORLD 1 ～ 28
REVERSION 1 ～ 7
EPILOGUE
Prologue
Darkness still consumed the island. Although the pouring rain kept dawn at bay longer than usual, it would break soon. Had anyone been close by on this cold February morning they might have seen Ghil digging his way out under the barbed wire fence. Icy raindrops pierced his back like tiny swords, but he hardly felt their sting. Instead, he dug even faster. He had to get out of here, now!
Weak shafts of light were breaking through the muddy sky when the guards’ alarm blared in the distance. Frantic, Ghil dug faster at the pit that didn’t seem to be getting big enough, fast enough. If I get caught, it will be the end of me!
He knew it was now or never, so he dropped to his belly and dug his hands into the ground, pulling himself forward under the fence. Razor sharp barbs grabbed at his clothes and dug long grooves into his back, and although his mind registered this, he didn’t feel the pain. Not with the guards bearing down on him, intent on dragging him back into captivity. Suddenly, the sound of gunshots tore through the air around his head and fear shot down his spine in a numbing flash. But he knew he couldn’t stop, he wouldn’t stop. With one last mighty heave he pulled his body free of the deadly barbs and crouching low, ran as fast as he could. Soon, his breath was coming in ragged gasps and he couldn’t feel his legs, but he kept running. He was at the end of the island now and thankfully, the gunshots had stopped. Looking toward the sea, he could make out the silhouette of a sampan on the shore, but he didn’t sense the presence of any people. He moved towards the boat and climbed in. Then he began rowing, putting his back into it, pulling hard on the oars until there was nothing all around but the pitch-black sea and the island fading into the distance behind him.
The adrenalin still pumping through his body served him well. He paddled for several hours without a break, taking in the smells of the sea and the sense of freedom. He had no particular destination in mind as he vaguely wondered which direction he should go. There was nothing but rolling waves in every direction as far as the eye could see.
Something will show up.
Ghil paddled on, losing track of time, for his body had reached its physical limits. He’d found no fresh water or food on the few rocky islands he’d seen crouching in the middle of the ocean. He was so thirsty it was all he could do to keep himself from scooping some of that cool liquid from the sea into his mouth even though he knew doing so would kill him. The thirst was so strong it blocked out the hunger gnawing a hole in his stomach. And still, no sign of civilization. No destination in sight.
How long has it been?
His determination to find a destination had been overtaken by languor and confusion, and now he just lay in the bottom of the boat looking up at the blue, cloudless sky. Suddenly Ghil laughed, for he realized he was once again a prisoner.
I escaped from the concentration camp but now I am trapped by the open sea… What better way to capture someone?
He closed his eyes, for now he knew the only way to get out of here was to simply give in to the desire for sleep. The ocean had shown him his destination, told him this was his last moment on Earth.
A Concentration Camp on the Island
A Concentration Camp
on the Island 1
The Dawn of Mar 25, 1952
“Ugh!”
Ghil groaned and pulled himself awake, escaping the deep darkness of the dream. The dream he’d had for the third time. But even though he was awake, he wasn’t quite conscious yet. He felt drugged, as if he was waking from a coma.
“Did you have a nightmare?” Moohyuk asked. Only the whites of his eyes were visible in the darkness.
“Yes… what time is it?” Ghil asked in a low voice.
“About one o’clock,” Moohyuk whispered.
Ghil nodded gently and closed his eyes again.
Another hour and a half.
They had bribed the guard into waking them up at 2:30 in the morning. They planned to gather at the muster point by 3:00. While they could rely on the guard to wake them, Ghil didn’t think he could sleep anymore. His body was just too tense. Besides, he didn’t even want to sleep. It looked like Moohyuk had spent the entire night awake.
It had been more than a year and a half since the war began, since Ghil’s life was ruined. Before the war he was an ordinary man, married for five years and working in a photo studio. He’d graduated from ‘Second High School’ during the Japanese colonial era and then started working for a newspaper company in Seoul. After two years, though, he was fed up with the pro-Japanese arrogance of the newspaper company and quit the job.
“Enough is enough. I have guts,” he spat out to his colleagues when he left.
Afterward, he got a job at a photo studio on Jongno Street in Seoul with the help of one of his acquaintances. His work there was to help a photographer take commemorative photos. He was paid much less there than at the newspaper, and the job did not match his education, but nevertheless, he did his best to learn more and more about photography and worked to find satisfaction in this job.
Even after Korea earned their independence from Japan, he continued working at the photo studio. His photography technique was well received by the neighbors and, although the photo studio did not prosper, he became an important staff member of the studio. During this time he met his wife and had a son. Hope flourished in his life until it was sucked up into a whirlwind of adversity as war broke out.
On Sunday, June 25, 1950, the North Korean Army stormed off at dawn. They broke the 38th line in an instant, taking only three days to capture Seoul. Ghil never had the chance to flee as the army took control of Seoul and drove the South Korean Army to the south of the peninsula before continuing their sweeping attack. In a flash, they had control of the entire peninsula with the exception of the area south of the Nakdong River.
As an intense engagement dragged on at the Nakdong Riverfront, the North Korean People’s Army drafted a conscript army from all over the country, including the people of Seoul. By all appearances, it was a voluntary draft of soldiers led by left-wing youth; but in reality, every house was searched and young men were compulsorily conscripted into the army. Ghil was eventually taken by force and had to fight at the Nakdong Riverfront against the South Korean Army. The North Korean Army won every battle in the beginning, but they faced a fierce counterattack in the Dabu-dong area at the north side of Daegu city. The North Korean and South Korean troops were mixed up arbitrarily and Ghil became a POW in the process. Even though Ghil argued he was conscripted by force, nobody bought this excuse. Everything was in turmoil and it was hard to distinguish between volunteers and forced conscripts. He was moved to a POW camp in the Geoje-Ri, Busan, along with other North Korean soldiers.
Ghil
heard from other POWs that the South Korean and United Nations forces advanced north during his stay at the Busan POW camp. The Incheon Landing Operation was successful and severely cut into the number of troops left in the North Korean Army. Now they were in trouble. As the supply route of the North Korean Army was blocked, they had no choice but to retreat. Ghil heard that the South Korean Army and the United Nations joint forces pushed back the North Korean Army, which occupied Pyongyang - the capital of North Korea. It was rumored that the forces continued the mission north towards the Yalu River. The entire camp was overwhelmed by the rumor.
Since the Incheon Landing Operation, the number of POWs had increased rapidly every day. Ghil thought the war would be over soon with the victory of South Korea and UN joint forces and was excited about getting back to his ordinary life. But then the Communist Chinese army intervened.
Ghil had no idea of the impact the Communist Chinese Army would bring to the war, but when the other POWs whispered about the Communist Chinese Army he heard they’d tipped the scales of the war. They heard that the South Korean and United Nations forces were pushed down south and were engaging in fierce battles in the midst of the Korean Peninsula. Rumor had it that the Communist Chinese Army out-numbered the bullets zipping around the battlefields. Then things started happening quickly. They heard that since the concentration camp in Geje-Ri, Busan was already saturated with POWs they would be building another one on Geoje Island, one of the islands located in the southernmost part of the peninsula, and all POWs would be moved there. So at the end of February 1951, eight months after the start of the war, Ghil found himself on Geoje Island with all the other POWs. The prisoners were immediately put to work building a fence to ensure they were unable to escape.
✽ ✽ ✽
The Geoje Island POW camp consisted of twenty-eight compounds (named 61, 62, 63, etc.). Each compound was composed of one hundred barracks, which held six thousand prisoners. Ghil was assigned to compound 62. It mainly consisted of militias from Seoul. Each compound of the POW camp was managed by officers selected from among the prisoners - one brigade commander, three battalion commanders, and many platoon commanders. In addition, a police squadron was organized to assist officers in maintaining order in the camp by controlling the other prisoners.
Endless coups occurred in the compounds of Geoje Island with POWs fighting for power every day. But this struggle for power and leadership was merely the surface reason for the coups. Beneath the struggle lie the fundamental conflict between capitalists and communists. Pro-communism POWs gathered around the ‘Liberation Union’ group, while pro-capitalism POWs aligned themselves with the ‘Korea Anticommunism Young Men’s Association.’ The groups competed for dominance throughout the compounds in their ceaseless efforts to usurp one another. This miniature war went on inside the camp in the same way the war between capitalism and communism raged outside the camp.
Ghil was not interested in either the left-wing or the right-wing and could hardly understand the damn things going on in today’s world where people collided with ideology and even waged war for it.
The ideas of capitalism and communism are nothing more than a way of life. Is our ultimate goal not that more people live happier tomorrow than today? Why do we need to fight for the means, as if it is the ultimate goal?
Ghil felt extreme rage that he was forced into the current situation; it was so alien to his beliefs.
From the day they arrived at the compound Ghil belonged to it was dominated by leftist militias from Seoul. They were armed with communism and anyone who had ideas and opinions contrary to them could not speak about them. And if someone did, the camp police dragged them out of the compound at dawn and they vanished without a trace.
Finally, the war was nearing an end outside the camp, and with talks of a ceasefire, the POWs of Geoje Island became a hot potato. It was said that North Korea demanded the unconditional repatriation of the entire POW camp. South Korea and the United Nations argued that the POWs should have to decide freely whether they wanted to remain in South Korea or return to North Korea. The Geoje Island POW camp was bustling, trying to classify who wanted to stay in South Korea and who wished to return to North Korea in preparation for the free-will repatriate. However, the compound to which Ghil belonged strongly rejected the classification process. Their rejection was so severe that it became impossible for the camp administration to proceed with classification work. The pro-communism officers running the compound claimed all their POWs should fall under a compulsory repatriation to communism. If this continued, Ghil had no choice but to go to North Korea where he had no relatives or acquaintances.
Moohyuk, his newly made friend on Geoje Island also worried about it. He, too, was indifferent to the ideological warfare and was deeply concerned and dissatisfied that with the war over he was being sent to North Korea when his family lived in Seoul, South Korea. Communist POWs strongly obstructed his way.
Mookyuk responded to the crisis aggressively.
He had slanted eyes, a thick nose, sturdy lips and a small, stocky body. He was a sharp-looking person with an appearance that suggested he was a fighter, but he was smart and meticulous even though he hadn’t even finished elementary school, unlike Ghil who had graduated from high school. Even so, Ghil had to admit Mookyuk was superior to him within the confines of the concentration camp. For Mookyuk had a plan; a meticulous plan that began with him gathering together anti-communist prisoners who were searching for a chance in the overwhelming atmosphere currently dominated by the communist prisoners. Carefully, he carried out his plan step-by-step. First, he approached one of the target subjects around him in secret. He emphasized that he could help people who shared the same intention and urged him to spread the same message to someone else who was in the same situation. Moohyuk cautioned him, however, and said if they were caught, they could be killed and buried somewhere in no man’s land. Therefore, as time passed, the movement became more and more secretive so that if someone was caught, they couldn’t divulge much since the only two people they knew were involved was themselves and the person who had delivered the message to them.
Consequently, the damage could be minimized, even if the worst case scenario occurred and someone was found out.
Moohyuk’s plan went smoothly for more than a month. He left a small stone on one side of the toilet each time someone joined their side so he could keep track of the number of people. He told the next person as if he was also told to do so to make sure that only two people were involved at any one time. Finally Moohyuk had 68 people who shared the same intention, which was to go home to South Korea. All they needed to do was subdue a brigade commander, battalion commanders, and the camp police. Sixty-eight people were enough to carry out the plan, so Moohyuk propagated the message that they would gather in the kitchen at three o’clock on the morning of March 25 to commence. He directed them to put on headbands on that date, for this would identify friend from foe. Finally, the promised day came. Ghil opened his eyes and closed them. The tension grew as the time drew nearer; his heart seemed as if it would leap right out of his chest.
A Concentration Camp
on the Island 2
someone tapped his feet. Ghil lifted his head and looked down at them without moving. The guard looked at him, ensuring that he was awake before he walked off. Ghil glanced towards Moohyuk and saw that he was ready and waiting, so he crept from his sleeping spot and followed Moohyuk, who walked out ahead. Their eyes quickly got used to the darkness which helped them identify objects as they made their way from the barracks to the kitchen. Dozens of people wearing white headbands made of bandages or clothes waited in the kitchen. Each had a weapon in their hands; sticks, hammers, axes, bamboo spears, clubs wrapped with barbed wire, pickaxe handles, knives, scissors, and sickles. This was an advance request; therefore, Ghil was pleased. It seemed like anything that could be used as a weapon was being gripped in someone’s hand. Ghil and Moohyuk slid into the mob without making a sound. It was ten m
inutes to three. Soon the leader of this coup would be revealed.
At three o’clock the mob was much larger and Moohyuk realized it was time to step forward. Ghil followed and stood by his side. Moohyuk drew the attention of the mob with a low, yet firm voice. He told them in a stately manner that he was the leader and went on to say that if his plan failed, the resulting consequences were clear. Everyone in the kitchen would die a horrible death.
There were exactly sixty-five people gathered. Three had not yet shown up, but it was too risky to wait for them. Ghil reported the number of people to Moohyuk and it seemed like he came to the same conclusion for he began group the men for immediate action. Ten people were selected to arrest the brigade commander and three battalion commanders. Other people were divided into two groups to raid the camp police’s barracks.
After they were grouped and roles assigned they could see the black silhouettes of camp police approaching them from the barracks. Not one, there were several coming, so it must be the three people who were not there earlier for the headcount.
Ghil and Moohyuk stood ready to welcome them, but as they got closer, they noticed four people, not three.
Did I make a mistake in headcount?
He could have made a mistake in the headcount with the rocks; a difference of one or two people was highly possible. Ghil and Moohyuk stood their ground until the four came closer. As the men approached, the two were able to distinguish who they were to some extent. One was tall and slender, one short and fat and two were small, thin people. Ghil felt his heart pound thickly with fear, for closing in on them were the brigade commander and three battalion commanders. Ghil had never seen them in person, but he’d often seen them in the distance and could recognize them right now even though it was dark. Ghil looked at Moohyuk and saw the shock registered on his face, for he knew these three were the last people his friend had expected to see.