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For some time after the ministers had left in an atmosphere of confusion and uneasiness, a heavy silence prevailed among the four of us. Park and I stood by the window; Chaplain Koh sat quietly near the stove; while Colonel Chang leaned back in his swivel chair behind the desk, gazing at the ceiling. It was getting dark outside. The wind blew hard. A streetcar clanged by, spattering pale sparks in its wake.
Colonel Chang at last broke the silence by sitting up abruptly in his chair. “Captain Lee,” he said, “you asked me what it was that I knew and you didn’t about the execution of the twelve ministers. Do you remember?”
Park and the chaplain looked at the colonel, who now sat with his hands clasped on the desk.
“It’s true, I do know something that all of you here do not know. I had hoped that I would never have to tell you what I know, but now I feel I have no other choice. The prisoner was telling you the truth about the ministers, although he exaggerated and understandably so. Among the twelve there were some who betrayed their fellows; they were unable to resist the Reds and allowed themselves to be manipulated into denouncing the others. I needn’t say anything about Mr. Shin or about the young minister. You have heard the prisoner’s words.”
“Colonel, how long have you known all this?” I asked.
“Ever since I was assigned to the case. Of course I didn’t know everything in detail. But that there were betrayers I knew for certain prior to the capture of Major Jung. Under the circumstances I had no other choice than to suspect Mr. Shin and Mr. Hann. I now know they are innocent. We have Major Jung’s word for the fantastic and complicated but true circumstances regarding the last moments of the execution. It was only when I got his confession that I was able to understand why Mr. Shin at first denied any knowledge of the execution. He decided to tell a small lie rather than a big lie about the martyrdom of the twelve, rather than reveal the truth about the shameful frailty and infidelity of some of them.”
Colonel Chang’s thin lips curled with disdain.
“Now,” he continued after a pause, “Mr. Shin has vanished in the face of angry Christians who accuse him of an alleged betrayal. He wants to resign from the ministry and from his church. What are we to make of this? Consider for a moment that you are in his position, that you are falsely accused of a shameful act which you did not commit; consider also that you are subjected to unspeakable humiliation—such as having your house smashed by those for whose sake you are keeping silent. Captain Lee, I accept what you said—that Mr. Shin is guarding the truth, that the others may not want the truth. But I am afraid of what he might do, of what he may be thinking of doing.”
Chaplain Koh said, “Mr. Shin did not say anything about his intention of resigning until this morning. He hasn’t explained why he wants to resign, or what he plans to do afterward.”
“That is why I am disturbed,” Colonel Chang said.
“Are you afraid that he might speak the truth?” I said.
“The truth which you don’t want?” said Park bitterly.
Colonel Chang scowled at Park.
“Colonel, are you sure,” the chaplain said, “that what you have just told us is beyond question?”
“Yes, I am sorry to say I have all the details—the names of the ministers, what they did and said, what confessions they gave to the Reds. I regret to say that I have the evidence.”
“Colonel, may I...?” said Park.
Colonel Chang interrupted him. “I know what you would like to know, Captain Park,” he said gravely. “You can be proud, as we all are, that your father was the bravest man of them all. He was magnificent, Captain. Even Major Jung admitted that your father could inspire a certain kind of awe and respect among the Red torturers. Rest assured, Captain, he is a great martyr.”
Park, with eyes closed, remained silent.
Colonel Chang said, “Chaplain, where is Mr. Shin?” And when there was no response, “It doesn’t matter whether you tell me or not. I shan’t disturb him. But tell me, do you have any idea what he is thinking of doing?”
The chaplain shook his head. “No.”
“Does he know what happened to his house?”
“He knows what they did.”
“How did he take it? Was he angry?”
“Yes!” shouted the chaplain, jumping up from his chair. “Yes, he was angry. What did you expect? I’ve never seen him so angry. He didn’t want to go away. I forced him to go. I admit that it was my way of revenge. I hated those petty Christians who behaved like mice yesterday and today are howling like hungry beasts!” He stopped for breath. “All right, he is at the service headquarters of my brigade in Chinnampo. I thought I could keep him over there for a while, at least until the memorial service is over. But is there going to be a memorial service?” Chaplain Koh glanced furiously about him. “For whom? To commemorate whom?”
Colonel Chang brought his fist down on the desk. “Yes! There is going to be a memorial service. To commemorate whom? The twelve martyrs, of course, the twelve glorious martyrs! What do you think! Never mind what I told you. You’ve heard it, and now forget what you know. I told you only because I wanted you to help me, to help the Christians.”
“To help your propaganda, too?” said the chaplain.
“Yes! To help the Army’s propaganda, too. Why not, after all! I am not going to let anyone defile our cause. I am not going to let anyone give the Reds an upper hand. Understand that. I don’t care who betrayed whom. All I care is that the betrayers and the betrayed alike were murdered by the Reds. That is what you must remember. That is what we must emphasize. And that is the most important thing to tell the whole nation. Army Intelligence has been compiling the data about the inhuman practices of the Reds; we are especially interested in collecting evidence on how the Reds treat Christians. The murder of the twelve ministers cannot be dismissed lightly just because there were a few weak human beings among them. What counts is they were murdered by the Reds, and don’t forget it!”
“Aren’t you overlooking something?” cried the chaplain. “We are dealing with martyrs, religious martyrs! If you wanted a hundred heroes out of a hundred Army deserters, very well, you should have them. But, by God, you are not going to manufacture religious martyrs. It would be the most despicable blasphemy. Martyrs serve the will of God, not the ephemeral needs of men!”
“Leave your god out of this, Chaplain,” the colonel said. “You know I don’t give a damn for your god.”
“You are unnecessarily blasphemous, Colonel,” the chaplain said indignantly.
“Am I? How do you know that what I am going to do—manufacture martyrs as you say—well, how do you know it is what your god may not want? How do you know that I may not be doing a greater service to your Christianity by presenting twelve martyrs than by exposing all the dirty linen under the holy garments of those miserable ministers?”
For a moment Chaplain Koh was too furious to reply. Then he said, “Something must be said to explain Mr. Shin’s act, to explain that he has nothing to be ashamed of. You must tell the truth, Colonel, or I shall!”
“Well, Captain Lee,” said the colonel, “you have been quiet. What is your opinion? Do you also insist that I tell the truth?”
There was in the tone of his voice an unmistakable challenge. Feeling upon me the silent gaze of the chaplain and Park, I said, “With your permission, sir, let me say I don’t understand why you are all so disturbed. What I would like to remind you is that we are talking about your truth, Colonel. We have your truth before us and we are arguing what to do with it. But it seems to me you have forgotten about Mr. Shin. What about him? What is he going to do? What is Mr. Shin ’s truth? That is the heart of the matter.”
“I don’t understand you,” said the colonel.
“Sir, the Christians will be more willing to believe what he tells them than what you tell them,” I said.
“Hm, don’t be too sure of that. But I am glad you brought Mr. Shin up. Why does he want to resign? I’ll tell you why. I am afraid he has become rather emotional about the whole damned affair. I fear he has come to a decision to speak out the truth, all the filthy truth about the betrayers. Otherwise, why resign from his calling? It is not a simple thing for a minister to accuse and expose the crimes and failings of fellow ministers. So he quits to make a clear way for his conscience.”
“And if he states the fact,” Park said, “that there were betrayers, what do you propose to do about it?”
“He won’t say that,” Colonel Chang said angrily.
“But suppose he does.”
“I will do my best to deny it.”
“And claim that he says so because he wants to hide his own guilt?” said Chaplain Koh.
Colonel Chang glared at him. “We must persuade him not to lose his head and do anything rash. That’s why I said I need your help. We must do our best to stop him from resigning, first of all, and then persuade him to tell the Christians that no minister was guilty, including himself and Mr. Hann, of course. And I will back him up.”
“With enough evidence, I hope, sir,” I said.
“I don’t want to hear any more nonsense from any of you,” he shouted. “And I remind you that you are not to divulge any part of this confidential information, you understand.”
“You assume,” Park said quietly, “that he will either speak the truth or distort it for your benefit, or even maybe his own. But why not assume that he just might say nothing, as he has not so far? Suppose he continues to keep an absolute silence? What then?”
“Nonsense! Sooner or later, he has to clear himself. Otherwise, everyone will be convinced that he is really guilty of something terrible, as many have already begun to think.”
“It is imperative that Mr. Shin’s innocence be established,” said the chaplain.
“How would you accomplish that, Chaplain?” the colonel asked.
“Tell the truth,” the chaplain said in anger. “How else? I am a Christian and a chaplain and I was once a pastor myself, but that does not mean I should compromise the truth, however painful it might be to the cause and interest of Christians. Truth cannot be hidden away. Perhaps, it was God’s will that such a painful truth as this should have come to Christians.”
“And you, Captain Park? What do you say to that?” said the colonel.
Brooding, Park did not reply.
“And you, Captain Lee?”
“I cannot agree with you, sir,” I said. “I cannot twist the truth to suit it to the purpose of our propaganda. Besides, sir, as Chaplain Koh has pointed out, the truth has to do with the religious nature of martyrdom, a matter which must be dealt with by religious authorities.”
“You then refuse to understand my position,” said the colonel.
“Colonel, my only argument is that truth must be told for the sake of its simply being the truth. I must make it clear that I have no other motives. If Mr. Shin were to be found guilty of betrayal, I would insist that he be brought to account for his crime. That’s all, Colonel.”
“Why must truth be told?” Exasperated, the colonel sprang up from his chair and began pacing the room. “Truth can be buried and still be the truth. It doesn’t have to be told.”
“The problem in our case, sir, is that you are obliged to say something about the execution of the ministers,” I said. “You have created the situation as it stands now, and I am afraid there is no way out of it for you, no way other than either to tell the truth or, as you insist, to distort it. It is your choice, Colonel.”
“And what is your choice, Captain? Suppose you were in my position, what would you do?”
“I would tell the truth,” I replied.
“And make the damn Reds happy and bring all the disgrace to us, eh?”
“I would have no other choice.”
“Enough!” Colonel Chang cried impatiently. “We must persuade Shin to cooperate with us.”
“You mean, cooperate with you,” said the chaplain.
“Suppose he refuses to be persuaded or to cooperate with you?” I said.
“Then I won’t have any other choice. I will have to force him, no matter how much I may be disinclined to do so.”
“Do you really think he is the kind of man you can force to do something against his principles?” the chaplain said.
“Ah, that we shall see.”
“How would you force him, may I ask?” retorted the chaplain.
“I would rather not say anything about it at this stage.”
A long moment of silence followed. At last the chaplain turned to me. “Captain Lee, do you remember, some time ago I told you of a certain problem which is exclusively my own?”
“Yes, I remember,” I said. “Why do you ask?”
“You remember I asked you what you would do if you were in my place?”
I nodded.
“What are you talking about?” said the colonel, darting a vexed look at me and at the chaplain.
“I am merely trying to pose a question,” the chaplain said. “You asked Captain Lee what he would do in your position. What would you do, Colonel, if you were in Mr. Shin’s place?”
“What would you do?” said the colonel, frowning.
“I confess,” Chaplain Koh sighed, “I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“I would tell the truth,” I said.
“Enough!” cried Colonel Chang once again. “Enough of this nonsense.”