Yeosu City Awards 7 Additional Independence Patriots on the 101st Anniversary of the March 1st Movement

Yeosu Public Fisheries School... Kim Jaegon, Son Daehyung, Seong Sanggyu, Park Noun, Park Yongsu, Hwang Byeongik, Oh Youngseop

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Since 2018, Yeosu City in Jeollanam-do has been operating a data room on the 3rd floor of the Woongcheon-dong Veterans Hall to support the discovery of independence activists.

According to Yeosu City on the 28th, on the occasion of the 101st anniversary of the March 1st Movement, seven independence patriots from the Yeosu area were additionally awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Kim Jaegon) and the Presidential Citation (Son Daehyung, Seong Sanggyu, Park Noun, Park Yongsu, Hwang Byeongik, Oh Youngseop).

The newly honored Kim Jaegon and Son Daehyung were students at Yeosu Public Fisheries School in 1930, where they organized a secret society called the Reading Society and were imprisoned as leaders of the anti-Japanese student movement.

Seong Sanggyu, Park Noun, Park Yongsu, Hwang Byeongik, and Oh Youngseop were expelled in 1942 while attending Yeosu Public Fisheries School for leading efforts to expel teachers who practiced ethnic discrimination, demanding the use of the mother tongue, and opposing the Labor Service Corps.

With this, the number of independence activists in the Yeosu area has increased to 56.

The descendants of Yeosu area independence patriots have actively carried out the discovery project in connection with senior social activity support projects, resulting in 2 awards in 2018, 7 in 2019, and an additional 7 this year.

Last year, the ‘Yun Hyeongsuk Martyr Academic Seminar and Memorial Ceremony’ was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Movement, inspiring the legacy of the independence movement in the Yeosu area.

Especially earlier this year, with the enactment of the ‘Ordinance on the Discovery and Support of Independence Patriots in the Yeosu Area,’ it has become possible to promote more discovery and memorial projects for independence patriots in the future.

Oh Ryong, chairman of the Yeosu Area Independence Activists’ Descendants Association, which has been continuously promoting the discovery of independence activists since 2003, said, “We will do our best to discover independence patriots in our region who have not yet been identified.”

Yeosu Mayor Kwon Ohbong stated, “We are proud that seven more people from our region have been recognized as independence patriots,” and added, “We will strive to ensure that the patriots and their families receive appropriate compensation for their sacrifice and contributions.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.