참父母經 / Chambumo Gyeong - 145 - 조기 졸업과 귀국 / 早期卒業 / Graduation and return to

[대태양/김현수]

조기 졸업과 귀국

참아버님께서는 당시 전시 상황 변화에 따라 학기가 반년 단축되어 1943년 9월 30일에 와세다고등공학교 전기공학과를 제25회로 졸업하셨다. 참아버님께서는 졸업과 동시에 고향 집에 귀향 일정을 알리는 전보를 치고 10월 4일 발 부관연락선 승선표를 예매하셨다. 출발 당일 친구들의 배웅을 받으며 도쿄역 매표소에 들어서려 할 때 어쩐 일인지 마음이 불안하고 발길조차 떨어지지 않아 고심 끝에 출발을 보류하셨다. 그날 참아버님께서 승선하기로 예약한 부관연락선 곤론마루(崑菕丸)가 10월 5일 오전 1시 15분께 오키노시마(沖の島) 북동쪽 약 10해리 해상에서 미군 잠수함의 어뢰 공격으로 침몰하였다. 귀향일자 연기 통보를 받지 못한 고향 본가에서는 사고소식을 접하자 발칵 뒤집혔다. 참아버님께서는 ‘지금은 비록 민족의 한을 풀어주지 못하고 돌아가지만 머지않아 반드시 일본 청년들에게 명령하고 가르칠 때가 올 것이니 그때 다시 만나자.’라는 내면의 기약 가운데 10월 중순 귀국길에 오르셨다.

21 졸업할 당시는 태평양전쟁 중이었는데 병역문제도 있고 해서 6개월 단축해 9월에 졸업하게 되었습니다. 고향 집에는 부관연락선으로 돌아가게 되어 몇 시에 도착한다고 전보를 쳐 두었습니다. 그런데 그 배가 전쟁 때문에 침몰해 버렸습니다. 고향에서는 승선자 명단을 조사해 보니 내 이름이 없었습니다. 그래서 다들 죽었다고 생각하여 대소동이 일어났고 마을 전체가 발칵 뒤집혔습니다.

22 내가 일본에서 돌아올 때인 1943년에 곤론마루가 침몰하였습니다. 졸업을 6개월 단축시켰기 때문에 시모노세키를 거쳐 한국 서울에까지 오는 표를 끊었는데 그때 타야 할 배가 곤론마루입니다. 기차를 타려고 도쿄역에 척 들어섰는데 기분이 이상했습니다. 그래서 그 기차를 안 탔습니다. 집에는 틀림없이 며칠에 도착한다고 연락을 해 두었습니다. 표를 끊고 벌써 몇 시에 간다고 연락을 했기 때문에 고향에서는 그날 그 시간에 올 줄 알았던 것입니다. 그런데 도쿄역에서 내가 뒤돌아선 것입니다. 그 배가 침몰해 버렸습니다. 그때 나는 도쿄역에 전송하러 나온 친구들과 아타미(熱海)인가 어디에 놀러 갔습니다. 그러니까 고향에서는 연락을 해도 온다는 사람이 없으니 죽은 것으로 알았습니다. 그때 우리 어머니가 미친 것입니다. 그래서 정주에서 서울까지 580리 길이니까 기차로는 열 시간 걸립니다. 부산까지 오려니 얼마나 정신이 돌았겠습니까? 치마를 안 입고 홑바지 걸음으로 나섰습니다. 신발이 언제 벗겨졌는지 모르고 뛰어다니다 보니 아카시아 가시가 발바닥에 박혀 굳어진 것을 몰랐습니다. 그것을 내가 돌아온 후에 뽑았다는 말을 듣고 내가 ‘아, 부모의 사랑이 그렇게 위대하구나!’라고 깨달았습니다.

早期卒業と帰国

真のお父様は、当時の戦時状況の変化により、学期が半年短縮され、一九四三年九月三十日、早稲田高等工学校電気工学科を第二十五期生として卒業された。真のお父様は、卒業と同時に、故郷の家に帰郷の日程を知らせる電報を打ち、十月四日発の関釜連絡船乗船チケットをあらかじめ購入された。
 
出発当日、友人たちの見送りを受け、東京駅のチケット売り場に入ろうとした時、どういうわけか、心が不安になり、足まで動かなくなったため、悩み抜いた末に出発を保留された。
 
その日、真のお父様が乗船しようと予約した関釜連絡船・崑崙丸は、十月五日午前一時十五分頃、沖ノ島の北東約十海里の海上で、アメリカ軍の潜水艦による魚雷攻撃を受け、沈没した。帰郷日を延期したとの通知を受けていなかった故郷の本家では、事故の知らせに接するやいなや、大騒ぎになった。真のお父様は、「今は、民族の恨を解いてあげられないまま帰るが、近いうちに、必ず日本の青年たちに対して命じ、教える時が来るだろう。その時、もう一度会おう」という内面の誓いを立てながら、十月中旬、帰国の途に就かれた。
 
 21 卒業する当時は、太平洋戦争中でしたが、兵役問題もあり、六カ月短縮して、九月に卒業しました。故郷の家には、関釜連絡船で帰り、何時に到着すると電報を打っておきました。ところが、その船が戦争のため、沈没してしまったのです。故郷では、乗船者名簿を調査しましたが、私の名前はありませんでした。それで、皆、死んでしまったと思い、大騒ぎになって、村全体がひっくり返ったのです。
 
 22 私が日本から帰る一九四三年、崑崙丸が沈没しました。卒業を六カ月短縮したので、下関を経由して、韓国のソウルまで行くチケットを買ったのですが、その時に乗るべきだった船が崑崙丸です。汽車に乗ろうと、東京駅に入ったのですが、気分がおかしいのです。それで、その汽車には乗りませんでした。家には、間違いなく何日に到着すると連絡しておきました。チケットを買って、既に何時の便で行くと連絡しておいたので、故郷ではその日、その時間に来ると思っていたのです。ところが、東京駅で私が引き返したのです。その船が沈没してしまいました。その時、私は東京駅に見送りに来ていた友人と、熱海かどこかに行きました。ですから、故郷では、「帰る」という連絡があった人が来ないので、死んだものと思ったのです。
 
その時、私の母は、気が動転したのです。定州からソウルまで五十八里の道のりですから、汽車では十時間かかります。それを、釜山まで行こうとするのですから、どれほど気が動転していたでしょうか。チマもはかず、薄手のズボンだけはいて飛び出したのです。靴がいつ脱げたかも分からずに走り続けたので、アカシアのとげが足の裏に刺さって固くなっているのも分かりませんでした。それを、私が帰ってきたあとに抜いたという話を聞いて、私は「ああ、父母の愛はそのように偉大なのだなあ！」と悟りました。

Graduation and return to Korea

Due to a change of circumstances in Japan caused by the war, True Fathers study in Japan was cut short by one semester. Hence he graduated earlier than expected, on September 30,1943, in the 25th graduating class of Waseda Technical School. After graduation True Father purchased a ticket for an October 4 departure on the ship from Shimonoseki to Busan and sent his family a telegram giving the date and time of his arrival in Busan. On the departure day, as he entered the train station in Tokyo with his friends who were sending him off, he suddenly felt uneasy. He did not know why, but it was as if his feet were weighed down and he could hardly drag himself onto the train. So he decided to postpone his journey home.

The ship that departed that day, the one for which True Father had purchased a ticket, was called the Gonnon Maru. On October 5 at 1:15 a.m., about ten nautical miles northeast of Oki-noshima, the ship was sunk by an American torpedo. True Father’s family was in total shock when they heard the news of the sinking. They had not heard that Father had changed his departure date. As True Father was journeying back home in the middle of October, he made a solemn resolution: This time I am coming home without having been able to dissolve the bitter sorrow of my people. Yet in the near future the time will come when I will be able to teach Japanese youth and guide them to do God's Will. Then we will meet again.
 
21 When I graduated from my school in Japan, it was the middle of the Second World War. For military reasons they graduated my class in September, six months earlier than normal. I sent a telegram to my hometown informing my family of my arrival time on the ship from Shimonoseki to Busan. But in the midst of the war that ship was sunk. Back in my hometown, my family checked the passenger list of that ill-fated ship, but they could not find my name. Everyone thought I had died, which caused a great commotion throughout my village. (015-147, 1965/10/03)
 
22 The sinking of the Gonnon Maru was in 1943. I was scheduled to board that ship in order to return to Korea from Japan. My graduation had been advanced by six months, and I bought a ticket from Tokyo to Seoul that included passage on the ship, which was to depart from Shimonoseki. But as soon as I entered the Tokyo train station to catch the train to Shimonoseki, I felt uneasy. So although I had already purchased the ticket, I did not take that train. Shortly after purchasing my train ticket, I sent a telegram to my family giving them the scheduled date and time of my arrival. Based on that schedule, my family in my hometown expected that I would come home on a certain day and time. However, after I had my premonition I left the Tokyo station and instead went with my friends who had come to send me off. I believe we went to a place called Atami. Consequently, I did not board the ship that ended up sinking.

In the meantime, since I did not come home, my family in my hometown, to whom I had sent the telegram, thought I had died. My mother went nearly insane. She dropped everything and hurriedly traveled to Busan to find me. It is 230 kilometers from Jeongju to Seoul; the journey took ten hours by train. Then she took another train from Seoul to Busan. You can hardly imagine her mental and emotional state during that journey. She did not even put on a dress; she ran out of the house only in her house clothes, which are like pajamas. Her shoes came off as she ran to the train station nearest Jeongju, but she did not notice; she did not even feel that an acacia tree thorn had embedded itself in the sole of her foot. A callous hardened over it, and 1 heard that she did not pull it out until after I returned home. I then realized, "Ah, this is the greatness of a parents love!" (125-310, 1983/03/29)