Archive for category: Contributors 2

손바닥 위 조그만 구슬을 굴리듯 둥그런 지구가 또 한번의 회전을 한다. 태양은 같은 곳에서 뜨고 같은 곳으로 넘어가 진다. 하지만 오늘의 아침은 어제의 아침과 너무나 멀고 하염없이 새로우며 그 누구에게도 미지수로 남아 지금의 앞을 밝힌다. 어제와 같은 모습으로 침대를 벗어나는 오늘의 몸뚱이는 하루만큼 자라있고 하루만큼의 흔적을 지닌다

As rounding a small marble on a palm, the Earth makes another turn. The Sun rises at the same place and sets at the other same point beyond the horizon. Nevertheless, today’s morning is just so far from the yesterday’s one, endlessly new, equally mysterious to anyone.

In the October 1968 the residents of Abai village in Cheonghodong, Sokcho have been traumatized by what had been the biggest tsunami in the history. About 150 houses were flooded and fishing ships were destroyed by the powerful waves.

Seorak Bridge now reconnects these two Abai villages however the town that has been the home for many who have already lost their homes in the north by ceasefire line has been divided again. The reason I cherish Abai village with such longing is because the residents’ lives and the town seem to share the same fate.

나의 집은, 어딘가 다른 곳에 살아가는 와중에 마음속에 남아있는 기억이기도 하고, 하루를 마치고 지친 발걸음으로 돌아가 몸을 누울 수 있는 작은 침대이기도 하다. 각각의 조각이 흩어져 있다가 때에 따라 퍼즐 맞추듯이 한데 모이는 곳, 돌아감을 느낄 수 있는 곳, 그곳이 집이 된다.

My home, is a memory that remains deep in the heart while I’m living elsewhere, and also a small bed where I may get into with the tired body after finishing the day. The place where separated family members get together like a puzzle, the place offering the impression of return, that becomes the home.

The reason I had decided to live in a town with these folks where I had no acquaintances is because I wanted to share a humble piece of my heart with them. The sense of consolation for the people who has been through the unimaginable time of our history.

지나가는 사람들의 이름을 다 들어보지도 못하지만, 들어본 이름 마저도 다 기억하지 못할 때 우리는 이름을 얼굴과 빗대어 닮은점을 찾아 인상에 남긴다. 스스로 만들거나 선택하지 않은, 하지만 나라는 생명을 만들어낸 이들이 선물처럼 전해준 이름은 그 사람의 정체성이 되고, 그 사람의 얼굴이나 성격, 나아가 삶은 이름을 닮아간다.

Though a number of life elements fade out with the death, the name remains and contains its memories. Recalled somewhere after the body disappeared, it makes a storm in a cup of water and lights on the dark chamber of forgetting.

Every summer Sokcho’s beaches are filled with tourists who visit the place for its famous ocean view. However the wires that divides the north and the south sea border is part of its view. The sea was one of the few pathways to the south for many refugees and thought to be the only pathway back to their hometown after the Korean War.