광복 70주년 특집극 <눈길>은 과거와 현재를 교차시키면서 일본군 ‘위안부’의 삶을 그린 작품이다. 일본군 ‘위안부’를 다룬 텔레비전드라마가 사실상 전무한 상황에서 <눈길>의 연구 가치는 매우 높다. 그러나 그 동안의 연구가 극장판에 치중되었다는 한계가 있는 바, 이 글에서는 극본을 통해 텔레비전드라마 <눈길> 본래의 가치를 구명하고자 하였다. 이러한 <눈길>의 재현 방식은 시청자로 하여금 이 문제를 과거에 벌어졌던 사건으로만 기억하게 두지 않는다. <눈길>은 과거와 현재의 이야기가 분리되지 않고 동시적으로 그려지는 구조로 이루어져있다. 특히 현재의 이야기에서 사회로부터 버림받고 방치된 여고생의 존재는 과거 일본군 ‘위안부’ 피해자들이 겪었던 고통만큼이나 현재에도 고통 받는 약자들이 존재함을 보여준다. <눈길>은 이러한 고통 받는 약자들의 공감과 연대를 통해 희망의 메시지를 전달한다. 과거 일본군 ‘위안부’ 피해자들이 서로 연대함으로써 삶을 포기하지 않았듯이 현재의 이야기에서도 약자들은 서로의 삶에 대해 공감함으로써 긍정적 변화를 이끌어낸다. 이제는 할머니가 된 일본군 ‘위안부’ 피해자가 현재의 여고생으로부터 위로를 받고 신원을 회복하며 마침내 죽은 이에 대한 애도를 하게 되는 이야기는 공감과 연대의 가능성을 보여준다. 결국 텔레비전드라마로서 <눈길>의 가치는 과거를 통해 현재를 다각적으로 성찰하게 만들어준다는 데에 있다. <눈길>은 일본군 ‘위안부’를 과거의 문제로만 국한하지 않고 현재화시켜 재사유화를 유도한다. 그것은 고통 받는 모든 약자에 대한 같은 인간으로서의 관심과 공감의 촉구다. 이러한 <눈길>의 휴머니즘적인 관점을 통해 일본군 ‘위안부’를 포함한 아직 해결되지 못한 수많은 문제에 대한 진정성 있는 해결 방안이 모색될 수 있을 것이다.

< The Snowy Road >, which was specially made for the 70th anniversary of Korea's Liberation, depicts the life of "enforced sex slaves" for the Japanese troops by overlapping their past with their present. In a situation where there are no television dramas about "enforced sex slaves" for the Japanese troops, the drama holds considerable research values. Previous studies have, however, been pointed out to be inclined toward its theatrical version. This study thus set out to investigate its original values based on its scripts. Obvious economic and class gaps between the main characters are the most prominent element in the way that "enforced sex slaves" for the Japanese troops are reproduced in < The Snowy Road >. Despite these differences, however, women of colonized Joseon were taken to the comfort facilities, being abducted or deceived by the Japanese empire. Placed throughout the drama, the objets emphasize will for life among "enforced sex slaves" for the Japanese troops taken to the comfort facilities as victims and also further highlight the oppression of the Japanese empire that even deceives their will. The drama thus clearly shows that the victims could not help choosing painful life as their survival was threatened. As this perspective develops, the drama reproduces the situations in which they were subjected to sexual violence metaphorically through sound instead of depicting them visually. It refuses to objectify the victims sexually and sees them as equal human beings, reconfirming the issue of "enforced sex slaves" for the Japanese troops as a crime against humanity that all of us should reflect on. The reproduction style of the drama does not let the viewers remember the issue only as an event in the past since its structure depicts their past and present stories simultaneously instead of separating them. One of the present stories is about a high school girl that is abandoned and neglected by the society, demonstrating that there are today vulnerable victims in as much pain as the victims of "enforced sex slavery" for the Japanese troops. The drama delivers a message of hopes through the sympathy and solidarity of the weak in such pain. Like the victims of "enforced sex slavery" for the Japanese troops did not give up on life by bonding together, the characters in the present stories sympathize with each other's life and bring about positive changes. Another present story tells how the victims of "enforced sex slavery" for the Japanese troops who are now old ladies get comfort from high school girls in the present, restore their identities, and mourn the death of those who died in the sex slavery, showing the possibilities of sympathy and solidarity. The value of < The Snowy Road > as a television drama is to help viewers reflect on the present in multilateral ways through the past. It tells the stories of the victims of "enforced sex slavery" for the Japanese troops as present stories and has the audience rethink about them instead of restricting them as an old issue. It urges viewers to take interest and sympathy for all the weak in pain. The humanism perspective of the drama will help to find sincere solutions to many issues that have not been solved including the "enforced sex slaves" for the Japanese troops.