Encountering the Minjung through Three Symbols

In this essay, I will discuss some of unspoken, but broadly taken-for-granted conceptions and beliefs about minjung in the present Korean society. Such conceptions lead to misunderstanding the reality of minjung. So I will suggest three important ideas or symbols that will help us explore the reality of minjung. They are multitude, inmin (人民, a people with a proletarian connotation), and the subaltern. Each of the three symbols portrayed here, provides us certain insight into the reality of minjung. But it is limited and partial in disclosing the reality of the minjung. Thus, by evaluating and integrating all of the three symbolical understandings, one can hope to arrive closer to the reality of minjung.