Kana Editions enrich their catalog by publishing Kim Hong-Mo's beautiful autobiographical story, My Life in Prison. Under the pseudonym Yongmin, he recounts his experience as a pro-democracy activist imprisoned for participating in the student protest in 1996. His country, South Korea, was then in a period of democratic transition. The shadows of the dictatorial past still hang over the country and the young man will know the prison world. In 200 pages, the narrator presents his own story, the microcosm of the prison while inviting us to dive into the little-known history of South Korea. A beautiful story about the notion of democracy, about commitment, tinged with humor and humanism.
Democracy in South Korea: a long road
Yongnim, a fine arts student, attended Hongik University. This universe rustles with the protest of a youth in search of democracy. In contact with union leaders, he learns the truth about the Gwanju uprising, the popular revolt crushed by the army in this southern city in 1980. Contrary to the claims of the military power at the time, North Korea was in no way involved in this political protest. Becoming vice-president of the student union, Yongmin took the lead in the movement. The latter demanded the prosecution of Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, generals responsible for the massacre. 100,000 students block universities. But the police intervene, track down the narrator and eventually arrest him. Along with 5,000 other students, he was tried and incarcerated in Yeongdeungpo Prison. Initially locked up with elderly inmates, he was moved to another dormitory occupied by gangsters, repeat offenders. He will befriend these prisoners, tough guys but who have immense respect for his convictions. He also discovers that his status as a "political" prisoner gives him a special aura, which he will use to denounce the conditions of confinement and continue his struggle from his cell.
My Life in Prison: The History of South Korea's Democratic Transition in Flashbacks
The book offers readers a glimpse into South Korea's sad contemporary history. Indeed, the Western public, during their studies, may have studied the Japanese occupation, probably evoked the Korean War, certainly analyzed the tense relations between the two Koreas. But the period of dictatorship and democratic transition is largely ignored. The author corrects this lack by intelligently describing the springs of military power: fear of red, permanent control and fierce repression. All this focuses on the Gwanju revolt, a popular movement of 1980 that demanded an end to authoritarian measures and ended in a terrible bloodbath. For the curious, the excellent Korean film May 18 looks back on this dramatic episode. Above all, this event addresses another facet of Korean history: the democratic transition. It began in 1987, a year before the Olympic Games in Seoul. If the generals accept this development, they continue to be at the center of the political game. They also take advantage of the economic take-off to enrich themselves in an unscrupulous way. And for the sake of political harmony, they initially escaped any legal proceedings. An injustice that the author denounces and which will be corrected in 1997 by the conviction of those responsible for the massacre. His work therefore acts as a true history book through images. 
A documentary about prison told with humor
The heart of My Life in Prison , however, is not about this reminder of South Korea's political upheavals. On the contrary, Kim Hong-Mo devotes most of his story to telling us about the life of prisoners, seen at the height of men. Indeed the prison is described to us through the eyes of the narrator, ignorant of this world and which will go from surprise to surprise. First he discovers life without intimacy, fear of the other, prejudices. He then learns the sometimes absurd, degrading rules of prison. He will especially discover who his cellmates are, bond with gangsters, take advantage of solidarity so as not to sink into despair and continue to believe in the righteousness of his cause. The narrative sometimes seems watered down to focus on another dimension: the inversion of relationships and hierarchy. The narrator, a simple student, physically weak, becomes the spokesman for the prisoners' demands. Which use their secret networks to spread his words as well as to exorcise their demons. The author describes this world with great sweetness and humor as underlined by this exchange between the narrator and one of his fellow prisoners.
"Do you know the difference between petty thugs and gangsters? We gangsters never touch ordinary people and if we ever accidentally shov them in the street, we bow low to apologize."
My life in prison: aminimalist drawing at the service of touching slices of life
My Life in Prison may be visually surprising at first. Kim Hong-Mo draws his story very simply. The cutting is classic, almost frozen. The boxes follow one another monotonically to bring out the ritualized life in prison. This "monotony" makes it possible to exploit all the individual stories that our hero encounters, to reinforce the emotion born of these exchanges. Actor as much as narrator, Yongmin becomes a double witness. That of a prison symbol of a society that has not yet mourned the dictatorship; That of a cause that federates anonymous, criminals by day, political activists by night. 
A story tinged with melancholy and humour, Ma vie en prison is also based on drawings in the watercolor style. As in Takahata's film, My Neighbors the Yamada, this choice builds a very special atmosphere: a blur mixed with tears of paint. As if to highlight the anonymity of the prisoners, the importance of suggestion and the sadness of the prisoner's condition. My Life in Prison is thus presented as a salutary story about commitment recalling the true meaning of dictatorship. For those who would like to learn more about the recent and tormented history of South Korea, we recommend the following very good films: May 18 about the Gwangju movement, 26 Years (a fiction based on the revenge of victims of the dictatorship), The Man Standing Next or The President's Man (historical thriller about the assassin of the president/general Park).
