‘Wangsan Heowi’ great-grandson Heo Sergei visits grandfather's hometown Gumi

Donation Delivery and Gratitude During April Visit to Kyrgyzstan

Visit to Wangsanhwi Memorial Hall ... Paying Respects at Heowi Teacher's Tomb

On the 3rd, Kim Jang-ho, Mayor of Gumi City, welcomed and held a meeting with Mr. Heo Sergei (37 years old, residing in Kyrgyzstan), the great-grandson of Wangsan Heo Wi.

Great-grandson of Wangsan Heo Wi, Mr. Heo Sergei (third from the right), visits Gumi City.

Mr. Heo Sergei is the grandson of Heo Guk, the fourth son of Wangsan Heo Wi. After Wangsan’s martyrdom, his descendants fled to Manchuria and the Maritime Province. Among them, the family of the fourth son, Heo Guk, eventually settled in Kyrgyzstan in the 1960s after passing through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

This visit to Gumi was made as a gesture of gratitude for the sponsorship funds that Mayor Kim delivered to the descendants of Heo Wi in Kyrgyzstan last April.

The sponsorship funds were raised by the Wangsan Memorial Association, the Gumi City Veterans Organizations Council, and the Gumi branch president of the Korea Federation of Artistic & Cultural Organizations after news spread in March that Mr. Heo Sergei was having difficulties covering the costs of visiting his homeland to obtain a passport.

Mr. Heo Sergei said, “I am truly grateful for the many helping hands extended to me. I will continue to uphold the pride of being descendants of our roots and a distinguished family of independence activists.”

Mayor Kim Jang-ho of Gumi City said, “I thank the local organizations that extended helping hands to the descendants of independence activists. The city will also strive to ensure that the spirit of independence of Wangsan Heo Wi is remembered by future generations through various commemorative projects.”

After the meeting, Mr. Heo Sergei visited the Wangsan Heo Wi Memorial Hall (Wangsan-ro, Gumi City) and paid respects at Heo Wi’s tomb.

The family of Wangsan Heo Wi, along with the families of Udang Lee Hoe-young and Seokju Lee Sang-ryong, is recognized as one of the three great distinguished families who devoted themselves to the independence movement over three generations, producing numerous anti-Japanese activists.

Wangsan Heo Wi (1855?1908, born in Im-eun-dong), a militia leader during the late Joseon period, served as the military commander of the 13 Provinces Righteous Army and was martyred as the first death row prisoner at Seodaemun Prison on October 21, 1908. In 1962, the Republic of Korea posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation.

Heo Wi’s eldest brother, Bangsan Heo Hun (Order of Merit for Patriotic Service), supported the independence movement by selling land that Heo Wi had almost entirely owned and personally participated as a militia leader of Jinbo (True Treasure). The third brother, Heo Gyeom (Order of Merit for Patriotic Service), actively carried out independence activities in Manchuria and the Dongbei region.

Also notable are their cousin Heo Pil (Order of Merit for National Foundation), who raised military funds for armed independence movements; Heo Hak (Order of Merit for Patriotic Service), the eldest son who participated alongside Heo Wi; Im Cheong-gak’s wife; and their great-granddaughter Heo Eun, known as the “Mother of the Independence Army” (Order of Merit for National Foundation).

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