Busan Gijang-gun Renovates Independence Activist Park Young-chul's Tomb ... Inheriting the Spirit of Patriotic Independence Martyrs

Busan Gijang-gun (Governor Jeong Jong-bok) recently completed the maintenance project of the grave of independence activist Park Young-chul, who was born in Gijang, located in Cheonggang-ri, Gijang-eup.

Park Young-chul, an independence activist from Gijang.

Park Young-chul (1908?1938) was from Dongbu-ri, Gijang-eup. After graduating from Kyoto Imperial University, he engaged in anti-Japanese activities and died in prison at Daejeon Prison while serving a sentence for violating the Public Security Preservation Act.

To honor Park Young-chul’s patriotic activities during the Japanese colonial period, the government posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1977 and the Order of Patriotism in 1990. In 1984, as part of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs’ project to restore sites related to independence activists, Park Young-chul’s gravesite was refurbished and a tombstone was erected.

Over time, the grave had tilted due to subsidence of the surrounding land, and there were difficulties for visitors as there was no separate signboard or directional marker, and no proper access road. In response, the county carried out a maintenance project that included installing signboards, correcting the tilt of the tombstone, and laying a coir mat on the access road, which was completed at the end of last December.

Grave of Independence Activist Park Young-chul.

A Gijang-gun official stated, “By maintaining the grave of an independence activist from our county, we have created an environment where more visitors can comfortably pay their respects. We will continue to do our best to widely promote the activities of our local independence activists and to foster pride among local residents.”

This year, Gijang-gun is actively working to inherit the noble spirit of the patriotic martyrs by allocating 40 million won in local subsidies for the publication of the book Gijang Independence Movement History.

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