116th Anniversary Ceremony of Hwasunseo Uibyeong Resistance 'Ssangsan Uiso' During Japanese Colonial Period

The Ssangsan Uiso Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army Bereaved Families Association announced on the 28th that it held a memorial ceremony at the sacred tree near Ssangbongsa Temple in Hwasun, Jeollanam-do, attended by about 200 people including the volunteer army memorial ceremony promotion team, Hwasun County officials, and residents of Iyang-myeon, Hwasun, to commemorate the 116th anniversary of the uprising.

The Ssangsan Uiso volunteer army was a group that bravely rose up 116 years ago in 1907 to reclaim national sovereignty after Japan deprived Joseon of its autonomous independence and disarmed the country.

The volunteer army unit, led by Mr. Yang Hoe-il, who lived in Ssangbong-ri, Iyang-myeon, saw over 500 people join the cause. Unusually in the history of domestic volunteer armies, they established organized training grounds and barracks, opened a blacksmith shop to manufacture weapons themselves, and created sulfur storage caves to produce and use gunpowder. Even today, at the sites where weapons were made, remnants such as walls of wrought iron on stone terraces made with talc and fragments of molten iron are scattered.

Furthermore, after months of preparation, they began attacking government offices such as the Japanese police station in Neungju in April 1907, occupied Neungju and Hwasun, seized Japanese weapons and military funds, burned government offices, post offices, and police stations, and aggressively disrupted Japanese communication facilities by cutting lines between Jeonju and Jeonseon.

However, as they attempted to cross Panchigogae Pass to attack the Japanese forces stationed in Gwangju, they were ambushed by the Japanese army, resulting in the arrest and sacrifice of many key volunteer army members, leading to forced disbandment.

A representative of the Bereaved Families Association said, "We hope that the patriotic spirit of the Ssangsan Uiso volunteer army, who conducted aggressive activities with modern-style barracks and training grounds and sacrificed themselves for the country, will be widely known and become a renowned site for fostering patriotic spirit."

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