Four Martyrs Who Resisted the Eulsa Treaty with Death Named 'Independence Activists of the Month'

Teachers Hong Mansik, Lee Sangcheol, Kim Bonghak, and Lee Geonseok

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Regional Veterans Office announced on the 1st that the Independence Activists of the Month (November), selected by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, are Hong Mansik (1842?1905), Lee Sangcheol (1876?1905), Kim Bonghak (unknown?1905), and Lee Geonseok (1851?1906).

Teacher Hong Mansik passed the civil service examination and was serving as Vice Minister of Personnel when he led the Gapsin Coup in 1884, but it failed and he was imprisoned, then released the following year.

In November 1905, when Japan forcibly signed the Eulsa Treaty and deprived Korea of its sovereignty, he could not contain his indignation and committed suicide by drinking poison to die for the country.

Teacher Lee Sangcheol, who was also serving as Hakjubu-sa, opposed the forced signing of the Eulsa Treaty in November 1905 and led a resistance movement, but seeing it was ineffective, he protested the treaty by committing suicide with poison in December of the same year.

Teacher Kim Bonghak participated in the righteous army movement under Kim Harak after Japan assassinated Empress Myeongseong in October 1895.

Later, after enlisting in the military and stationed in Seoul, when the Eulsa Treaty was signed in 1905, he and his comrades planned to eliminate It? Hirobumi. However, the plan was leaked and failed, and on December 2, he committed suicide by drinking poison.

Teacher Lee Geonseok, upon the signing of the Eulsa Treaty in 1905, established a petition office and submitted a joint petition with Confucian scholars nationwide to Emperor Gwangmu, demanding the annulment of the treaty and punishment of the traitors.

After repeated petition protests, he was imprisoned by the Japanese military dispatch command and died for the country in prison in May 1906.

The government posthumously awarded the Order of Independence Merit to Teachers Hong Mansik, Lee Sangcheol, and Kim Bonghak in 1962, and to Teacher Lee Geonseok in 1963, in honor of their meritorious services.

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