찌들은 몸" 사북 지역의 탄광개발과 환경문제

Abstract

정선, 영월과 태백지역을 중심으로 한 석탄산업은 1960-80년대에 강원도의 주요 산업이었을 뿐만 아니라, 한강의 기적을 이룬 한국경제의 버팀목이자 원동력이었다. 탄광지역은 해방 이후 한국 사회를 이끌어온 경제개발과 근대화의 에너지원으로서 중추적인 역할을 하며 형성 • 성장해온 개발시대의 표상이며 시대이념이 압축되어 있는 곳이었다. 더욱이 탄광지역은 80년대 후반부터 석탄산업 합리화라는 이름 아래 탄광들이 용도 폐기되면서 한국의 어떤 지역보다 급속한 변화를 경험하고 있다. 최근 탄광지역, 정확하게 말하면 폐광지역의 발전방안으로 등장한 국내 최초의 내국인 카지노, 강원랜드도 그런 시대적 산물로, 고원관광휴양도시로의 변신을 추구하는 폐광지역은 한국사회의 새로운 발전방향을 가늠하는 좌표로서 작동하고 있다. 사실 1980•90년대는 탄광지역뿐만 아니라 해방 후 경제개발을 향해 매진해온 한국 사회 전체가 정치,경제, 사회문화 등 모든 영역에서 급격한 변동을 경험하고 있는 때이기도 한다. 어떻게 보면, 한국 근대화 시기의 한국인들의 에너지원이었던 석탄, 즉 연탄이 점차 수입 에너지인 석유로 대체되었다는 점은 거시적 측면에서뿐만 아니라 개발과정에서 간과되고 무시되었던 한국인들의 일상영역에서도 거대한 변화가 일어났음을 짐작할 수 있게 한다.

This study intends to observe the ecological characteristics of nature, society and a human being(the body) of the town of Sabuk, which was one of the representative coal mining towns in Korea. And further if possible to show the position and meaning of environmental problems' discourse in the process of coal mining development in that Korean society.

As coal was the fundamental resource of energy in the 1960's-1980's and palyed an important role for the economic development of Korea, the town of Sabuk, which is located in a deep vale of mountainous area, became a good model of economic development and modernization of Korea, as a coal town.

Emphasizing on coal mining industry, the Korean government launched a strategy for the rapid economic growth, exploiting the nature of Sabuk to obtain coal energy. At that time the abundantly digged coal of Sabuk was considered as a treasure for development, thus the environmental problem in the process of reckless deforestation was completely neglected, arguing that it was not the primary problem, but the secondary for the economic growth. This logic of the priority to the economic growth began to infect directly to the sociocultural environment of Sabuk. Constructing of 'company house' as group camp resulted daily circumstances' pollutions to sky, soil and river, symbolizing "the black".

The people, who immigrated to Sabuk with the last hope of life, accepted the coal village as their second hometown, adapting themselves to its inferior social environment. However, the people, who had served as the miners for the economic growth, began to suffer from occupational diseases such as pneumoconiosis, because of their terrible working conditions and damaged environmental setting, having been exposed to the ordinary danger of high temperature and collapse of a mining pit. At this point we can resume that the Korean economic growth had been achieved on the basis of the sacrifice of the miners, thus nowadays called as the industrial warriors', undertaking the social burden of contemporary damaged environment and poverty of our country.