Song Hye-kyo and Seo Kyung-duk Donate 10,000 Copies of Korean Independence Movement Guidebook in Hawaii

Placed at Hawaii State University
"Encouraging Visits to Korean Independence Movement Historic Sites"

To commemorate the 78th Liberation Day, actress Song Hye-kyo and Professor Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women's University have once again joined forces. This time, they produced and donated a guidebook introducing Korean independence movement sites in Hawaii, USA.

The guidebook was created in both Korean and English, and 10,000 copies were donated to the Korean Studies Center at the University of Hawaii, allowing visitors to use it for free. The guidebook provides an overall explanation of the Korean independence movement in Hawaii and introduces sites such as the former location of the Honolulu Korean National Association General Assembly Hall, the Korean Consolidated Association Hall site, and the Oahu Cemetery. If visiting Hawaii in person is difficult, the original file can be downloaded and used from the 'History of Korea' website.

Professor Seo explained, "This year, to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Korean immigration to the Americas, we published the guidebook to encourage visits to Korean independence movement sites."

Photo by Seokyungdeok, Professor at Sungshin Women's University SNS

He pointed out, "Due to the prolonged global COVID-19 pandemic, the condition of Korean historical sites overseas is not very good," adding, "Continuous interest and visits by our people will be the greatest force to raise awareness and preserve independence movement sites left unattended abroad."

The collaboration between Professor Seo and Song Hye-kyo has continued since 2012. They have been running a project to donate Korean-language guidebooks, Hangul signboards, and relief artworks to 34 independence movement-related sites overseas in line with historical anniversaries.

In 2019, to mark the anniversary of independence activist Yun Bong-gil’s heroic act, they produced and donated a bronze relief artwork of Yun Bong-gil to the Yun Bong-gil Memorial Hall in Shanghai, China. In 2014, they provided a Korean-language guidebook to the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho House at the University of Southern California (USC) in the United States.

Additionally, in 2013 and 2019, they donated relief artworks and Hangul signboards to the Lee Jun Martyr Memorial Hall in The Hague, Netherlands, and last year, they donated a relief artwork of independence activist Kim Kyu-sik, who served as vice chairman of the Provisional Government, to the Provisional Government building in Chongqing, China.

On last year’s March 1st Independence Movement Day, they also produced and released a multilingual video titled 'The Lady of the Provisional Government, Su-dang Jeong Jeong-hwa (photo),' which chronicles the life of Jeong Jeong-hwa, who managed the affairs of the Korean Provisional Government. The video reexamines her life dedicated to raising independence funds, participating in organizations such as the Korean Patriotic Women's Association, and caring for the leaders of the Provisional Government and their families to support the government’s operations.

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