A Vital Crash Course in Korean Labor Activism

Posted in: Ablaze Publishing, Comics, Manga, Review | Tagged: ABLAZE Publishing, Hellbound, korean comics, labor relations, manhwa, The Awl, union activism

The Awl by Hellbound creator Choi Gyu-Seok is a vital Korean manhwa series about labor relations, union activism, and corruption.

Korean comics, or manhwa, are an unexplored field, and Hellbound creator Choi Gyu-Seok‘s The Awl is one of the most unexpected entries in the medium. This is not a series about people getting superpowers fighting demons but a more social realist story about labor rights, industrial corruption, and worker abuse that offers a portrait of South Korean society that most people don’t know about.

A Comic About Unions and Labor Activism

The Awl follows labor activist and negotiator Gu Go-sin and ex-soldier-turned-grocery store manager Si-un, two men whose lives become intertwined when Si-un becomes increasingly uncomfortable with upper management’s ploys to get rid of his staff, and Go- Without introducing him to the world of activism and unionization. Si-un is a stoic who tries to be a good soldier but finds his need to look after his workers in direct conflict with the abusive corruption of management. Go-sin and Si-un are complete opposites. Si-un is passive and fears rocking the boat, while Go-sin is a fearless, angry streetfighter who knows how to bring the forces of the law down on corrupt companies and their bosses. Si-un’s journey is learning to get out of his head and his own passivity to fight for his workers under the tutelage of Go-sin, who introduces him to the world of corporate corruption, police corruption, and protests. This is the world of The Awl – as far as Go-sin is concerned, injustice doesn’t go away until you fight against it and beat the bullies into submission, don’t keep your head down and let them beat you until they decide to go away.

What The Awl Reveals About Korean Society

The real shocking insight from The Awl it is the nature of Korean society that gets exposed in the series. South Korea is deeply rooted in Confucian dogma that makes people feel obliged to keep their heads down and not rock the boat, and results in a lot of passive people who get systematically bullied and abused by those in power, whether it’s the government, bosses, family members, schoolmates or co-workers, and the result is a society with seething rage underneath in danger of exploding. This sense of repressed rage and frustration is more pronounced in Korean society than even in Japanese and Chinese society. The workers in The Awl passively take abuse in ways no one in the West would ever tolerate, and this shows how and why unions are essential in protecting their rights. Go-Sin and Su-un are the two sides of the same coin in this story, one active and one passive, in the struggle to secure workers’ rights.

The Awl Vol. 1 is out now. It’s just the start of the struggle that takes readers through what it takes to get justice for workers. It’s about something real that matters in real life.

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