Journal of the Korean Geographical Society ISSN:1225-6633(Print) 대한지리학회지

In Korean society, Atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 have only been remembered as the final blow to Japanese imperialism. However, the fact that 10% of A-bomb victims were Korean has been hardly known in Korean society. This paper deals with the reality that Korean victims have been forced to remain silent. Extending the discussion of subaltern geopolitics, this suggests the concept of ‘geopolitics from below’ to hsed light on the victim’s view. By examining the A-bomb victims who have fought against the multi-layered suppression, this new concept emphasizes that the interaction between scale and subaltern’s action should be fully included in the discussion of subaltern geopolitics. The structure of suppression experienced by the victims exists in multiple scales from the global scale of U.S. hegemony as liberators and the geopolitics of East Asia, the national scale defining the victim’s identity, family and body scale which emphasize victim’s responsibilities. On the contrary. victims have strived to overcome this structure of suppression by the solidarity of individual’s the local community, challenge to the responsibility of nation-state, developing associations between Korean-Japanese NGO’s, and questioning the justification of the hegemonic state. The suppression mechanism surrounding the A-bomb victims and their response to this can be understood as ‘the geopolitics from below’. which emphasizes the dynamics of geopolitics among several issues of subaltern geopolitics.