제22부 조국으로의 송환과 징용, 두번째 Part 22 Repatriation and Internment, Second

제22부 [...] 조국으로의 송환과 징용, 두번째

어머니는 내가 징용을 나가게 되어 식량배급을 받게 된 것을 다행으로 여겼고, 아버지는 형이 죽었을 때를 얘기하면서 내가 일본에 가 일본놈으로 바뀌지나 않을까 걱정했었는데 그렇지 않은 것을 다행으로 여겼다. My mother was thankful that I was drafted and put on food rations, and my father talked about when my brother died and how he was worried that I would go to Japan and be turned into a Japanese, but I was thankful that I wasn't.

삼척으로 가기 위해 승호리에서 기차를 탔다. To get to Samcheok, I took a train from Seunghori. 벌써 안주 쪽을 비롯한 여러 곳에서 오는 징용공들이 자리를 잡고 있었다. Already, laborers from Anjou and other places were in place. 어머니가 자식을 위해 싸준 것은 땅에 묻어둔 무뿐이었다. The only thing the mother packed for her child was the radish she had buried in the ground. 하지만 그 무는 나 혼자만이 아니라 여러 사람의 허기를 채워 주었다. But that radish wasn't just for me, it satisfied the hunger of many. 나는 삼척에서 1945년 8월 15일 조국이 해방될 때까지 1년 6월 동안 징용공으로 노동했다. I worked as a laborer in Samcheok for one year and six months until the liberation of my country on August 15, 1945. 처음에는 나를 포함해 26명의 징용공이있었다. In the beginning, there were 26 recruiters, including me. 그러나 하나 둘씩 떠나더니 결국 광복을 나와 맞은 사람은 8명뿐이었다. One by one, however, they left, and in the end, only eight people were left to face Gwangbok.

징용생활 1년 6개월은 어떤 면에서는 내게 적지 않은 도움이 되었다. In some ways, the one and a half years in the military helped me a lot. 나는 혼자 고학을 하면서 다른 사람들과는 거의 접촉이 없었던 만큼 사교를 몰랐으며, 내 의사를 표현하는 데도 어색한 편이었다. I didn't know how to socialize as I was studying alone and had little contact with other people, and I was awkward at expressing myself. 그러나 징용생활에서 평안도, 함경도, 전라도, 경상도등 도처에서 모인 사람들이 한 합숙소에서 집단생활을 했기 때문에 자연히 그들과 어울려 많은 것을 배울 수 있었다. However, during my conscription, people from all over Pyeongan Province, Hamgyeong Province, Jeolla Province, and Gyeongsang Province lived together in one dormitory, so I naturally learned a lot from them. 삼척에 있는 동안 나는 사투리를 고치려고 많은 신경을 썼다. While in Samcheok, I spent a lot of time trying to fix my dialect.

내가 평안도 사투리를 너무 심하게 써서 동무들이 놀려댔기 때문이다. My coworkers made fun of me because I spoke the Pyeongando dialect so badly. 그래서 1년 6개월 동안 의식적으로 노력을 하자 조금씩 고칠 수 있었다. So over the course of a year and a half of conscious effort, I was able to fix it little by little. 징용공 중에서는 내가 제일 어렸는데, 도쿄제국대학과 교토제국대학, 도오시샤(同志社)대학에 다니던 우수한 사람들도 있었다. I was the youngest among the laborers, but there were some excellent people who had attended Tokyo Imperial University, Kyoto Imperial University, and Dōshisha University.