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4.3 Incident : Caves
Survival Plans
Each cave had a different surviving plan depending on factors like the location and the items that they had.
Keunneolbgwe Cave
More than 100 Jeju residents that decided to live in the Keunneolbgwe cave went down, and deep into the caves, as far as they could go. The desire that they would survive made them go further in the cave. The deeper they went, the further they were from the clear sky. The cave was dark and icy-cold- it was a Siberia.
Going inside the deep cave
("[랜선역사기행] 7. 동굴")
With most of their energy spent in just ‘staying’ in the brumal cave, they had to do things that would keep them safe from the prosecutors. Alongside with the little energy, the people carried heavy rocks that would feel like dumbbells and would stack them to make defensive walls. Even though the walls might not be effective for survival, they still tried hefty to survive.
(Lee Boram)
Defensive Walls created by Rocks
“40일 동안 한번도 밖에 못 나갔어. 언제가 낮이고 밤인지도 몰랐지. 그래서 하늘이 어떻게 생겼는지, 별이 뭔지 한번만 보고 싶었어.”
“I never went outside for 40 days. I didn't even know when it was day or night. I just wanted to see how the sky looked like, and how the stars looked like.”
(Lee, Hana)
'Never go out' was considered as their belief and survival plan. The people hiding did not go out for more than five months. They did not know when it was snowing, nor sunny. The only evidence they can get was the dropping water droplets, dropping from the ceiling of the cave when it rained. The more time they spent in the cave, the more they wanted to see the sky.
Darangshi Cave
As seen in the map, the basecamp of the persecutors’ was quite close to the Darangshi cave compared to the other caves. There were about 15 Jeju residents hiding in the Darangshi Cave. Even though they were close to ‘people they are hiding from’, they did not let go of the hope that they would survive. There was a tense environment in the caves, all being ready in any moment to brust out and fight. At any time, any day, there was a chance that persecutors would struck.
'Always Be Ready to Fight'
As the base camp of the persecutors’ were nearby, everyone had to be ready to fight with the persecutors when they burst into their cave. Their main surviving strategy was to be prepared with weapons like scissor sickle, hoe, greatsword, pitchfork and iron spear. They were common farming tools, but in this case were used for protection.
Comparison
The main factor that contributed to the difference of the two caves was the location. The residents who decided to live in the Darangshi cave were ready to fight with the persecutors, while the Keunneolbgwe cave was end-to-end on the map with the persecutors, and made people hide deeply rather than to fight.
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