'Chinese National Government' Created... Discovery of ID Cards of Ahn Jung-geun and Others

Found Documents of 87 Gwangbokgun Members Including Many Women
Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Releases Historical Records on 83rd Anniversary of Gwangbokgun Establishment

Documents created by the former Chinese National Government regarding our independence activists, including An Jung-geun, have been discovered.

On the 17th, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs announced that it had unearthed a document titled 'Personnel Registration Volume (人事登記卷)' created by the Military Commission of the National Government of China between the 1940s and 1950s at the Taiwan National History Museum last month. The discovered personnel registration volume contains detailed biographies of six individuals: ▲An Jung-geun ▲An Jeong-geun ▲Shin Ik-hee ▲Hong Jin ▲Ji Cheong-cheon ▲Jo So-ang. For example, the record of activist Shin Ik-hee includes detailed personal history such as attending Waseda University in Japan, serving as Minister of Interior and Minister of Justice in the Provisional Government, and serving as Speaker of the National Assembly after liberation.

Certificate of Appointment written by the Chinese National Government for An Jung-geun [Photo provided by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs]

In the case of An Jeong-geun, the younger brother of An Jung-geun, whose activities in the 1940s have hardly been revealed until now, the personnel card contains an evaluation stating, "He holds considerable influence in Korea, worked in key positions in the Provisional Government, can directly connect with the British and American governments, and is a figure who must be engaged with at the central level."

In particular, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs explained that regarding An Jung-geun, who died a martyr in 1910, the fact that a personnel record was made in August 1945, 35 years after his martyrdom, allows us to infer how the Chinese National Government at the time evaluated his righteous deed. Kim Young-shin, a researcher at Wonkwang University’s Korea-China Relations Institute, said, "The significance of this discovered material is great, as it is rare to introduce actual personnel record cards of Korean independence activists."

About Ahn Jeong-geun's younger brother, Ahn Jeong-geun, the personnel registration card created by the Chinese National Government
[Photo by Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs]

Additionally, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs has also discovered for the first time a document detailing the names, genders, and other information of 87 members of the 1st Unit of the Korean Liberation Army. This is a document file titled Korean Provisional Government Food Department File (韓國臨時政府糧食部案卷) sent by the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea to the Chinese National Government. It contains food supply request documents sent from organizations affiliated with the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea to the Chinese National Government’s administrative office between 1941 and 1944.

This material includes official letters sent directly by organizations under the Provisional Government such as the Korean Liberation Army to the National Government, as well as the names, genders, ages, addresses, and affiliations of the members belonging to these organizations. Among these, a document titled Korean Liberation Army 1st Unit Officer and Soldier Family Members Requesting Purchase at Fair Price Roster (韓國光復軍第1支隊官兵隊員眷屬請購平價花名冊) confirmed the list of 87 agents of the 1st Unit of the Liberation Army, including Lee Jong-geon and Kim Jeong-sook.

A Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs official stated, "Among them, about 40 Liberation Army independence activists who have not yet been awarded as independence patriots were identified, which will be usefully utilized in future efforts to discover and award independence patriots." He added, "In particular, many female names were found here, which is expected to greatly help in discovering and awarding overseas female independence activists, whose evidentiary materials have been insufficient until now."

Professor Hwang Sun-ik of Kookmin University evaluated, "This is a valuable material that lists the Korean Liberation Army and their family members in detail, allowing historical verification of the affiliated personnel. Compared to existing documents, it contains abundant documents that help understand the context before and after, contributing to grasping the reality of the independence movement at the time."

List of Personnel of the 1st Unit of the Korean Liberation Army Including Many Women [Photo by Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs]

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs also discovered a letter sent by Dr. Kim Cheom-saeng, chairman of the Korean-American Cultural Association, to Chiang Kai-shek, Chairman of the National Government, on December 7, 1943. The letter expressed gratitude regarding the guarantee of Korea’s free independence decided at the Cairo Conference. The Ministry stated, "This shows that Korean American organizations in the 1940s conducted diplomatic activities for the declaration of independence not only against the United States but also against the Chinese National Government."

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs plans to strengthen cooperation with Taiwanese authorities in the future, as it believes that a considerable number of independence movement materials with high historical value are held in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the day the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs disclosed these materials was the 83rd anniversary of the founding of the Korean Liberation Army. The Korean Liberation Army was established on September 17, 1940, in Chongqing, China, and is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of Korea’s armed forces. The Korean Liberation Army Memorial Association held a commemorative ceremony at the Yongsan War Memorial on the 12th, and the Korean Liberation Army Bereaved Families Association held a ceremony at the Yeouido Liberation Hall on the 15th to honor the Liberation Army.

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