농약을 중심으로 본 녹색혁명: 1970년대 증산과 공해에 가려진 농약 중독

Abstract

This study aims to examine pesticide hazards in the green revolution in South Korea with the concept of “slow violence.” The green revolution initiatives of the 1970s strongly encouraged the extensive usage of pesticides among farmers. It was because the high-yielding rice varieties, such as Tong-il, could not be cultivated without pesticides. The intensive use of pesticides caused poisoning among farmers and pesticide residue problems on food which was called “nongyak gonghae” (農藥公害). However, the nongyak gonghae was differently represented by the government. This study shows that the government’s analysis was restricted to the residue problem in the food instead of the broader issue of farmers’ exposure to pesticides. Pesticide poisoning of farmers was examined by a limited number of scholars so it was impossible to identify how many people experienced poisoning. Even when pesticide poisoning recurred, the government did not devise policy measures to solve the problem. Pesticide poisoning of farmers was under-discussed in Korean society until the government change in the 1980s. This study argues that this selective research on pesticides in the green revolution worked as violence that caused the human cost of modernization.