Four Seasons Publishing House × Memorial Foundation for the Democratization Movement
The Democracy and Human Rights Picture Book Series has been published!

'Democracy and Human Rights Picture Book' is a non-fiction picture book series (8 volumes in total) published in collaboration between Sageseoul Publishing and the Memorial Foundation for the Democratization Movement.
We closely examine the modern society we live in, identify various social issues, and present them in picture books.
The meaning of democracy and human rights, including discrimination, inequality, migrant labor, gender roles, and sensitivity to violence, are captured in picture books so that children and adults can easily understand and relate to them in their daily lives.
The series features many authors who are currently actively creating picture books based on their own unique world of works.
We have gathered together authors who have won the Bologna Ragazzi Award, BIB, and the Korea Picture Book Award, as well as unique picture book authors with a large fan base.
Thirteen domestic and international picture book authors, including Jeong Jin-ho, Kwon Jeong-min, Seo Hyeon, Lee Myeong-ae, Jo Won-hee, So Bok-i, and Osori, agreed with the planning intent of the Democracy and Human Rights Picture Book and actively participated.


This series was born from an exhibition content project at the Memorial Hall for Democracy Movement, which opens in the second half of this year.
The Memorial Foundation for Democracy Movement, which is in charge of planning and authoring support, is transforming the Namyeong-dong anti-communist division, a site of past state violence, into a memorial hall for the democracy movement, a space to commemorate the history of the democracy movement and democracy.
The goal is to preserve the Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Investigation Office, which oppressed and tortured countless people throughout the history of Korean democracy, and to create exhibition and educational facilities to remember this painful history and create a space that opens up a new future.


Launched in early 2022, the "Democracy and Human Rights Picture Book Project" took its first steps with the goal of establishing picture books as exhibition content for meaningful moments in modern Korean history.
This project, which was launched with the hope of conveying the values ​​of democracy and human rights to future generations through the high artistry and communicative power of picture books, has now come to fruition and been published as a picture book.


Collaborative work with 13 picture book authors from Korea and abroad over two years
Drawing a colorful perspective on democracy and human rights

A nonfiction picture book filled with 'strong and kind hope'

The eight-volume series, which will be published sequentially from May to October of this year, is the result of the 'Democracy and Human Rights Picture Book Project' that was conducted over two years from 2022 to 2024.
Kwon Yun-deok, author of “Flower Grandmother,” which has dealt with major events in modern Korean history, including the issue of Japanese military comfort women, through picture books, served as the general director of the project.
The project team, led by author Kwon Yun-deok and comprised of picture book researchers and experts, brought together creators and created picture books through several seminars and discussions.
In particular, the participating artists had time to deeply understand the intention of this project through a field trip to the Namyeong-dong public security office.


The catchphrase of the picture book project is 'A picture book filled with strong and kind hope.'
Director Kwon Yun-deok explained the reason for the project, saying, “We want to confront historical and realistic issues head-on, communicate them in a friendly way with the public through picture books, and capture hope for the future within the picture books.”


This series, a public project that supports the creation of picture books with national budget, has encouraged creators to experiment and make diverse attempts in all aspects, including subject matter, material, form, and expression, in the current reality where picture books that address social issues are scarce.
The creators brought the themes of 'democracy' and 'human rights' into everyday life and, after much thought and research, incorporated them into picture books.
This nonfiction picture book explores the issues our society must face today with a variety of voices and in-depth perspectives.

The Beginning of the "Democracy and Human Rights Picture Book": Capturing the Realities of Korea's Democracy Movement
About the black brick building built in the heart of Seoul

"Memory of Architecture" is a work that touches on the beginning of democratic human rights picture books.
The building the title refers to is the current Memorial Hall for the Democracy Movement, and the former Namyeong-dong Anti-Communist Division.
The Counterespionage Division was a notorious torture site and a specialized counterespionage investigation agency under the National Police Agency during the military dictatorship in the 1980s.
When this place was bustling, few people knew what the building was used for, and the victims didn't even realize they were in the heart of Seoul.
Although it was a gruesome building built for the purpose of torture and interrogation under the design of the country's best architect at the time, it was also a place that brought about a turning point in democracy in our country.
"Memory of Architecture" depicts the memories of this place where human rights and the spirit of democracy were trampled upon, from the perspectives of the perpetrators, the victims, and the architecture itself.

“It’s all for the country.”
“The investigators’ first greeting was a beating.”
The perpetrator trapped in a nightmare, the victim living in the present

The first chapter of this book begins in what is now Namyeong Station, and illuminates the buildings of thirty years ago, confronting their true nature.
Passing through the heavy iron gate and going around to the back of the building, a nightmare space opens up.
The story, set in a black brick building, begins with the soulless cries of the perpetrators.

The words whispered as if brainwashing, the scenes displayed like fragments, and the increasingly overwhelming tension in the picture give off a sense of danger.
At the time, most investigators believed they were performing counterintelligence work for national security and routinely conducted torture investigations.
The author, Osori, has portrayed the gaze of such perpetrators in a chilling way with strong colors and rough touches.
Their warped beliefs manifest as unstable first-person monologues, ultimately self-justifying monologues that are trapped in brick buildings.

In comparison, the victim's story, which transitions while looking out the building's narrow window towards the southern region, is bland.
The suffering they endure is vividly portrayed in fragmented images, but the third-person narrator carefully and precisely places himself in the victim's perspective.
The victim's story doesn't end with him being trapped in the building.
I brought up memories I didn't want to remember and sued the torture investigator, and as time passed, I passed through the current Namyeong Station.

A space of democratization history completed by three authors from three perspectives.

This book presents the experiences and feelings of the Namyeong-dong public security office through three voices: Choi Gyeong-sik, Osori, and Hong Ji-hye.
The authors closely captured three perspectives by visiting the scene, examining the victims' testimonies, and following the perpetrators' footsteps.
In the introduction, author Kyung-sik Choi vividly captures the atmosphere of the actual space by describing the building from various angles.
The author, Osori, showed fragments of pictures and text that were so disturbing that they expressed the violent mental world of the perpetrators and the horror of torture.
Author Hong Ji-hye portrayed the unforgettable pain of those who passed through that place in cold, calm blue tones.
However, the story ends with their voices expressing their inner struggle to move forward firmly rather than dwelling solely on the pain.
"Memory of Architecture" empathizes with the pain of the past, commemorates the democratization movement that brought about democracy after much struggle, and conveys that it serves as a stepping stone to a better future.