Human Acts

“While the leaden mass of the anthem’s refrain rises and falls, rises and falls, thirty coffins will be lifted down from the truck, one by one.”

The lifting of 30 coffins is a poignant reminder of the lives lost due to state violence, and the national anthem sung in their honor seems out of place, even hypocritical. The quote highlights the irony of the situation and the disconnect between the state’s professed ideals and the reality of its actions. It suggests that the state’s symbols and rituals, such as the national anthem, can be meaningful to people even when the state itself has become corrupt.

“The woman in school uniform wiped the face of a young man whose throat had been sliced open by a bayonet, his red uvula poking out.”

The image of a woman in a school uniform wiping the face of a young man whose throat has been sliced open by a bayonet is a haunting and powerful representation of the violence that occurred during the Gwangju Uprising. The brutality of the act is heightened by the contrast between the innocence of the woman’s school uniform and the horrific nature of the man’s death. The image emphasizes the senseless and unjust nature of the violence committed by the state against its own people, and the tragic loss of life that resulted from it.

“And when someone comes looking for a friend, like you did, you uncover them again. The faces are badly injured, so they’ll need to get a good look at their bodies and clothes to decide whether it’s who they think it is.”

The description of the badly injured faces and the need for friends and family to identify