Flashlight

Serk is being tortured in a North Korean interrogation cell. His torturer, who is speaking Korean, orders him to state his nationality.

On the night Serk disappeared, he was actually abducted by North Korean agents. Because he tried to resist with his flashlight, his abductors severely beat him. When the torturer shows him the flashlight, Serk takes it and beats the man. Later, he is unsure if this really happened.

Serk’s captors convince him that they have Louisa in their custody, threatening to harm her if he does not comply with his reeducation. The captors accuse Serk of having internalized American and Japanese imperialist values. When they serve him limited quantities of meat, they say it is out of fear that his values have made him gluttonous, but Serk suspects that this is a convenient excuse for food shortages. When Serk recovers from his injuries, he is transferred to another room with a window and a sleeping mat. Serk asks if Louisa is living in the same complex. His captors claim that Louisa has progressed much faster with her reeducation. Serk imagines that his family must have endured similar psychological torture upon their repatriation from Japan.