한국전쟁과 염산면 기독교 순교비의 사회 · 종교적 역할

The Korean War and the Social, Religious Role of the Cenotaph of the Christian Martyrdom in Yomsanmyon

This article is a case study of the massacres happened during the Korean War. The massacres of the War in Yomsan area has been officially recorded from the 1960's. But these reports with full of prejudices against anti-communism were made without any proper field investigations or surveys. The story based on these prejudices paved the way to erect the cenotaph and tower of the martyrdom in the region. The story of the martyrdom, however, are quite different from the actual situation in the War. Even then from the latter half of the 1980's the christianity leaders in the region developed the story more eloquently to decorate their churches exclusively for the purpose of expanding their influence. In doing so the cenotaph and tower of the christian martyrdom played several important roles in the region. 1)The churches could draw the locals to their ground more easily, 2)the holy place the cenotaph is located became lucrative income sources for the regional government, 3)it stirred the people to interest in the war sacrificed christians. But at the same time these process led adverse results, preventing the people from giving critical evaluations of the War. The story of the martyrdom, the wall paintings of the churches, the cenotaph and the tower of the martyrdom contributed all to inculcate the notions of 'South Korea and North Korea' 'christianity and communism' to classify into only good or evil. These notions hinder after all the critical perspectives on the War, such as internal causes and t he violences and the dire consequence on man the War accompanied.