Rain boots` upward mobility

"Houses in same forms were flooded here and there, standing awkwardly in vacant lots. After minutes of driving, the village he will reside finally has stretched out. Dark gray factories besides the houses were generating soot." This place is Wonmi-dong, a remote yet beautiful village that appeared in the novel series of Korean writer Yang Gwi-ja. The book titled "Wonmi-dong People" was released in 1987 and contains 23 episodes of residents at Wonmi-dong, Bucheon City in Gyeonggi Province, who were kicked out of Seoul and hurt by the logic of capitalism. When it rained, Wonmi-dong people used to say, "We can live without a wife, but not without rain boots."

On rainy days, middle aged and older Korean people have their own reminiscence of Wonmi-dongs where streets were all muddy and difficult to walk through. In early 1980s, many backstreets were muddy in Seoul suburbs when it rained and this was not a shame at all. Waterproof rain boots were a necessity not only for manual labor but also for people living in poor hillside villages.

French writer Charles Perrault`s collection of fairy tales released in 1697 contained "Puss in Boots." After father who was operating a watermill died, the first and second sons were granted a watermill and donkey but the third got only a cat. The cat asked the disappointed third son to buy him boots. After wearing red boots, the cat makes a surprising transformation, carries out remarkable activities wisely and gives his master a happy ending.

When the rainy season begins, it is easy to see women go to work in rain boots made of rubber or plastic. Famous brand boots cost 200,000 won (167 U.S. dollars) to 300,000 won (265 dollars) and some are even sold at 700,000 won (619 dollars). Some people wear rain boots when it is sunny perhaps because they bought them at a costly price. While people in the past tried to escape from boots that symbolized a hard and poor living, now people wear rain boots as fashion in the rainy season. Rain boots have raised their status from a daily necessity to a fashion necessity.

Editorial Writer Koh Mi-seok (mskoh119@donga.com)