* Editorial comment: <한겨레> We are looking for a columnist. During the application period (closed on February 23rd), contributions from existing columnists working in different fields will be published at the beginning of each week with the theme of’why, what, and how I use’.
Seven years ago, I quit night school for the disabled, which had been active for 13 years. I didn’t know how to live, so I packed my lunch and went to the library for a while. I read the newspaper all day. The newspaper was full of unknowns. I felt like I was living like a frog in a well at a small school and then suddenly popped out of the well. It felt great to sit still and read the world. One day, at the library, I took a lecture about Jongno’s attractions and its history. Jongno was where night school was, so it was like the hometown of youth. However, it was the first time I heard all the Jongno stories the instructor gave me that day, and that elevated me to the fullest. When the lecturer talked about the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), my expectations reached their peak. I have watched the Cheonggyecheon street vendors fight for years, who have been driven out to build it. Diffi, who slowly revealed his shape beyond them, has never been unholy to me. Said the instructor. “As a large sum of 500 billion won was spent in the construction, it is artistically and well worth it as a tourism resource.” I’ve never seen anyone say that. I eagerly wrote down his words while happily reflecting on my intolerance. Then I waited for a story to come next. It has high artistic value, but it is like a story that someone has lost their place of survival because of it. I have been studying in Europe, and I thought that a lecturer who knew the history of the Joseon Dynasty could not know what is happening in Seoul right now. But the lecture ended there. DDP was wonderful and beautiful. For some reason, it collapsed so much that he couldn’t leave the empty classroom for a long time.
writing. curiosity. Getty Image Bank
He felt no intention. It wasn’t that he considered the displaced street vendors less important, it just seemed invisible to his eyes. On my way home, I thought about a world that I can see and cannot see. It was the way back to hear about the world that was visible to him and invisible to me. I thought that I was a frog in a well so that I had to learn about the world outside the well so that I could speak out loud about the world. But he, who looked like a frog outside the well, seemed to live in his own well. At that time, I knew that what I thought of as the universe was actually someone’s well, and that this world was just the sum of those wells. For the first time that day, I looked at my well. I thought about the worldview rather than knowing where my well is and how it looks different from other wells. I opened the newspaper again. The newspaper was full of unknowns. The disabled, the family of the Sewol ferry, the people who were expelled, the beings that are so vivid to me, the well that raised me, so my universe was nowhere to be found at one time. They weren’t those who were willing to sweep away for shiny and flashy things, but people seemed to be unaware of what was being swept away. My well was completely missing from the world the newspaper showed. The desire to talk about something rose fiercely from the well. From then on, I was offered a column titled’Reading the World’. Had it not been for that time, a cowardly person like me would not have started this terrifying job. At first, I wrote about the very narrow and grim sky I looked at from the well. But the more I wrote, the more I was writing about how deep and wide the well was, how safe and beautiful it was. It was a world where people living with the will of others, people who did not run away even though it was too heavy, and people who knew while getting sick. I wanted to show these wonderful beings to those who closed their eyes, thinking that there would be only pain and misery inside.
People want to learn about discrimination. But what I really need to learn is resistance, I think. A story of suffering because of love. A story that is very painful, but more happier than that. The story of expanding the horizons of this world by making the end of the world the forefront. I would like more activists to write. I’m curious what’s inside your well. I don’t even care about everyone’s universe. Eunjeon Hong, Writer, Human Rights Animal Rights Recorder
[알림] Hankyoreh columnist is conspiring
Lee Young-hee, Jung Eun-young, Jo Young-rae, Park Wan-seo… . It is the name of intelligence that can no longer be met, but cannot be separated forever. These are the column writers who became the bamboo rain, laughter, and tears of the times. Today, other writers take their place and lose. Now, for the first time in the history of the press, we are conspiring for columnists. We hope to discover more diverse insights and sensibility to connect with readers. Hope to despair, sadness to joy, past to present, dream to dream, so we’ll talk to us. ‘Hankal’, it starts. Please be together.
■ Who : Anyone in the district (individual, writing group, etc.) who has something to say
■ What 1 : 6 to 12 proposals containing the entire subject (no limit) and each subject, 2 columns to be included in it (2,000 words per episode) and
■ What 2 : Answers less than 300 characters to common questions.
■ when : Apply for 6 weeks until 22:00 on February 23rd.
■ Where to send : [email protected] (E-mail subject: Name)
* There are 4 common questions (all answers are less than 300 characters).
―Please tell me why you applied.
―Please introduce yourself.
―What is the reason to be selected?
―Please tell us how to share your column more widely with other readers.
* If a group is selected, a section can be divided into a series of members. * We provide columnist qualifications and manuscript fees for each column. * If problems such as sexual ethics or plagiarism are confirmed, selection and publication will be canceled. Application documents will not be returned. Online application is only possible. * Inquiries: (02)710-0631, [email protected]