Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Names Bu Chunhwa, Kim Okryeon, and Bu Deokryang as "Independence Activists of the Month"

Leading the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Regional Veterans Office announced on the 6th that teachers Bu Chunhwa, Kim Okryeon, and Bu Deokryang were selected as this month's (January) independence activists by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

They led the Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement from 1931 to 1932, centered on the haenyeo (female divers) around Jeju Island, resisting the exploitation and oppression by the Japanese colonial government and the haenyeo association. All were born in Gujwa-myeon (currently Gujwa-eup), Jeju Island.

Since the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs started the monthly independence activist selection project in 1992, they are the first recipients of the Order of Merit for National Foundation. They are also the first to be selected from Jeju Island.

The Jeju Haenyeo Anti-Japanese Movement was a nationalist movement led by women during the Japanese colonial period, with a total participation of about 17,000 people, making it the largest anti-Japanese movement in Jeju Island.

It was an organized struggle against the unjust economic discrimination, exploitation, and oppression by the Japanese, and is considered one of the three major anti-Japanese movements in Jeju, along with the 'Beopjeong Sahil Movement' and the 'Jocheon Manse Movement.'

Teacher Bu Chunhwa started haenyeo life at the age of 15, Kim Okryeon at 9, and Bu Deokryang at 13 to help support their families at a young age.

At that time, in Jeju Island, it was difficult for women to survive without working as haenyeo, and modern education was out of reach, but from 1928 to 1931, they studied together at the Hado Elementary School night class and began to awaken modern anti-Japanese and nationalist consciousness.

In 1930, when young people in Hado-ri protesting the illegal sale of seaweed by the haenyeo association were arrested by the Japanese police, the haenyeo of Hado-ri also began to resist together.

In December 1931, to protest the exploitation of haenyeo by the Japanese, the three were elected as representatives at the Hado-ri haenyeo meeting.

On January 12, 1932, the market day in Sehwa-ri, Gujwa-myeon, Jeju City, and the day the Jeju Governor (currently Governor of Jeju Province), who was also the head of the haenyeo association, came to Gujwa-myeon for an inspection after his appointment, haenyeo from Hado-ri and across Jeju Island began a protest wielding hoes and bichang (tools for picking abalone).

The three teachers led the haenyeo in organizing the protest and negotiated directly with the Jeju Governor on behalf of all haenyeo participants to enforce demands such as 'opposition to the dual role of the governor as association head' and 'exclusion of Japanese merchants.'

Feeling threatened by this process, the Jeju Governor promised to resolve the demands within five days, but after the governor left, the Japanese deployed armed police and arrested 34 leading haenyeo and dozens of youths from January 23 to 27.

They were detained as pretrial detainees in police station jails for several months, suffering hardships, and sadly, Teacher Bu Deokryang became extremely weak due to torture aftereffects and died at the age of 28.

The government honored their meritorious deeds by posthumously awarding the Order of Merit for National Foundation to Teacher Bu Chunhwa in 2003, Teacher Bu Deokryang in 2005, and Teacher Kim Okryeon in 2003.

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