Written and Illustrated by Kwon Yun Duck


“The war brings all kinds of violence, cruelty, silence, and cooperation. And the result totally remains in the body of war veterans. When those war veterans have to live their daily life where life should be more valued than killing after war, how should these veterans live in this rapid change?”
‘Yong, Maeng Ho’ is the book which the writer has always kept himself dealing with Vietnam War, which is vaguely remembered and still not yet solved in our society. Following the commuting road of Mr. Yong, Mang Ho, the Vietnam War veteran, readers also visit his present daily life and his past.

Memory stigmatized by the war and sad memories shown out in his body
The main character in this picture book, Mr. Yong Maeng Ho, goes to his workplace, a car repair shop, every morning. He repairs seven cars all day and takes off his sweaty clothes to go home. Mr. Yong Mang Ho is a Vietnam War veteran and now lives by himself only remembering his wife and daughter alone.
The situation of Vietnam in 1954 is quite similar to that of Korean Peninsula. The joy of liberation out of French rule stays only for a moment. The country was divided by two according to Geneva conventions, and it was in front of the general election to create united government in 1956. However, the south Vietnam government decided to refuse the general elections worrying to lose, which did not have trust among people due to corruption. Therefore, the US concerning communized government decided to directly interrupt in 1964, the Vietnam war became international war. The excuse of the US was anti-communization, but even the nearest allies refused to join the war. Under this circumstance, the Korean government sent out troops four times in total of 47,872 (annually 320,000 soldiers) from 1964 to 1973. It was based on the calculation for economic interests and security promise. In this war where 7 countries had joined besides the US, Korea sent out the most troops other than the US. Mr. Yong was one of them. He went to Binh Ðinh Province in the mid-south Vietnam. The place was full of palm trees and surrounded by the sea, but the place soon was destroyed by fire and defoliant.
In this book, the author both shows an ordinary worker, Yong Maeng Ho, going to his workplace, and his images in Vietnam based on his memory at the same time. A Vietnamese woman and a baby in black suit standing in front of crosswalk on the way to his workplace, living creatures in jungles he has to see while asleep, and the sounds of shoes and guns of soldiers pushing down the Vietnamese ground. His body is changing while the memory of the past and the reality are all mixed together. With three ears, three chests, three eyes, and three feet, Mr. Yong Maeng Ho has to go to his workplace to survive and the phantoms of death are wandering around him.

In this book, Korea is depicted as an attacker. The Vietnam War lied based on the sacrifice of innocent Vietnamese people and soldiers clearly shows the irony of Korean society. In front of the past that Korea was the attacker, people have not paid enough attention and even forgotten the Vietnam War. The writer drew the faces of innocent victims of Vietnam War putting up with each suffering at the vacant area near village burned down by fire. There is Mr. Yong Maeng Ho as well who obeyed the military orders. These have become the attackers forced by the country. We should now allow war veterans like them anymore.