Yeosu City Selects ‘Bae Se-dong’ as November’s Independence Activist of the Month

Monthly Selection of Local Independence Activists, Reassessing the Historical Value of the Independence Movement

[Yeosu=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Cheol-hoon] Jeollanam-do Yeosu City (Mayor Jeong Gi-myeong) has selected ‘Bae Se-dong (裵世?)’, born in Nam-myeon, Yeosu, as the Independence Activist of the Month for November and has begun promotional activities.

‘Bae Se-dong’ was a leading figure in the 1919 Gimje Market Independence March.

After participating in the Independence March at Jeonju Eup Market on March 13 of that year, he and his comrades resolved to start a march in Gimje, and on March 20, they staged an event on the market day in Wonpyeong-ri, Suryu-myeon, Gimje County.

On the day of the event, they distributed the Declaration of Independence and Taegeukgi flags, hung a large Taegeukgi on a pole, and shouted for independence, which was met with the participation of hundreds of people in the march.

Subsequently, the demonstration was dispersed by the Japanese police and military police, and the ringleader was arrested and sentenced to one year in prison by the Daegu High Court on April 28 of the same year, serving a prison term.

After his release, Bae Se-dong was repeatedly forced to live a wandering life under Japanese surveillance, and in 1942, he was re-arrested by the Japanese police in Yeosu and died from the aftereffects of severe torture.

The government posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Class 3 (Patriotic Medal) in 1990 in recognition of his contributions.

A city official stated, “Thanks to the independence activists who sacrificed for the country, we have today’s Republic of Korea and today’s Yeosu,” and added, “We will continue to make efforts to discover and honor the merits of local independence activists and veterans’ families to raise their pride and guarantee an honorable life.”

Meanwhile, since August, Yeosu City has been jointly selecting local independence activists with the Independence Activists’ Descendants Association and has begun full-scale promotional activities. Along with this, the city has been steadily promoting the discovery of local independence activists every year and has posthumously honored a total of 77 people to date.

Yeosu=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Cheol-hoon hss79@asiae.co.kr

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