I make this oath as a member of Korean Patriotic Association to kill the military leaders of the enemy who are invading Korea in order to redeem the independence and freedom of our country.
Hongkou Park Incident
On January 28, 1932, the Japanese army launched an attack on the Chinese National Revolutionary Army's 19th Route Army stationed in Zhabei, Shanghai. After more than a month of resistance, the Chinese forces gradually lost ground and eventually abandoned their positions in Jiangwan and Zhabei, retreating across the entire front. On March 3, after the Japanese occupied Zhenru and Nanxiang, they declared a ceasefire. Subsequently, with the mediation of Britain, the United States, France, and Italy, both sides began negotiations.
During the negotiations, Japanese military and political officials in Shanghai decided to take advantage of the celebration of "Tenchō Setsu" (the birthday of Emperor Shōwa) on April 29 to hold a "Victory Celebration of the Battle of Shanghai" at Hongkou Park, Shanghai..
Against this backdrop, Chen Mingshu, the acting Premier of the Executive Yuan of the Nationalist Government and Commander of the Shanghai Defense Force, along with others, decided to carry out an assassination to disrupt the Japanese celebration. Chen approached his friend Wang Yaqiao, known as the "King of Assassins," and shared this idea with him. Wang expressed his support. However, the Japanese, wary of potential threats, declared that "no Chinese would be allowed to attend the victory celebration," making it difficult to act.
Wang then suggested that the exiled Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, based in Shanghai, be asked to send someone for the task. He contacted Ahn Chang-ho, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Provisional Government, with whom he had a close relationship, and proposed the plan, offering a sum of 40,000 yuan for funding. Ahn Chang-ho subsequently met with Kim Gu, the Minister of Police of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea at the time. Kim agreed to take on the mission.
After accepting the mission, Kim Gu, learning from the failure of Lee Bong-chang's attempt to assassinate Emperor Hirohito during the Sakuradamon Incident, meticulously prepared the explosives. At the same time, Kim approached a young Korean exile in Shanghai, Yun Bong-gil, to carry out the assassination. Yun Bong-gil, who was fluent in Japanese and resolute in his determination, immediately agreed to undertake the mission. On April 26, Yun joined the Korean Patriotic Corps and took an oath under the Korean national flag, capturing the moment in a photograph.
On 29 April 1932, Yun took a bomb disguised as a water bottle to a celebration arranged by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in honor of Emperor Hirohito's birthday at Hongkou Park. The bomb killed the government minister for Japanese residents in Shanghai, Kawabata Teiji , and mortally wounded General Yoshinori Shirakawa, who died of his injuries on 26 May 1932. [7] [ unreliable source? ] Among the seriously injured were Lieutenant General Kenkichi Ueda, the commander of the 9th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army, and Mamoru Shigemitsu, Japanese Envoy in Shanghai, who each lost a leg, and IJN Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura who lost an eye. The Japanese Consul-General in Shanghai, Kuramatsu Murai (村井倉松), was seriously injured in the head and body. [8]
Yun then tried to kill himself by detonating a second bomb disguised in a bento box.[ citation needed ] It did not explode and he was arrested at the scene. [9]
Sentencing and execution
After being convicted by a Japanese military court in Shanghai on 25 May, he was transferred to Osaka prison on 18 November. He was then moved to Kanazawa, Ishikawa: the headquarters of the IJA's 9th Division. Yun was executed by firing squad on 19 December. [4] His body was buried in Nodayama cemetery in Kanazawa.
Legacy
The then-President of the Chinese Republic, Chiang Kai-shek of the Kuomintang government, praised Yun's actions, stating he was "a young Korean patriot who has accomplished something tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers could not do". [10] [11] [12] However the future South Korean president, Syngman Rhee, disapproved of the incident and Kim Gu's strategy of assassinations as a means to achieve independence because the Japanese could use such attacks to justify their oppression in Korea. [8]
Funeral and honours
In May 1946, Korean residents in Japan exhumed Yun's remains from Nodayama cemetery. After being transferred to Seoul, they were given Korean funeral rites and reburied in Hyochang Park. [13] [14] [15]
On 1 March 1962, the South Korean government posthumously bestowed on him the Republic of Korea Cordon (the highest honor) of the Order of Merit for National Foundation.
On 27 March 1968, Chiang Kai-shek, the president of Republic of China in exile in Taiwan, wrote a prose to applaud Yun's action at the request of Yun's biographer, which was not revealed until 18 Dec 2013. [16]
Memorials
Yun Bong-gil Memorial Hall was built in commemoration of the 55th anniversary of his death. [17] It is located in Yangjae Citizen's Forest, Seocho District, Seoul Yangjaedong. Second name of Yangjae Citizen's Forest Station is 'Maeheon' which is named after his pen name.
There is also a memorial hall called the Plum Pavilion in Lu Xun Park, Shanghai where the bomb throwing incident happened. [18]
In Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, a monument was built on the site where Yun Bong-gil was buried after being executed by the Imperial Japanese Army.
Modern re-evaluation
In South Korea, discussion on whether Yun's bombing attack in 1932 would have been considered terrorism in a modern context is a sensitive issue. In 2007, Anders Karlsson, a visiting Swedish scholar from SOAS, University of London, compared Yun Bong-gil and Kim Gu to terrorists in his lecture on Korean history. His comparison provoked strong criticism from the newspaper JoongAng Ilbo . Prof. Jeong Byeong-jun, interviewed by JoongAng Ilbo, dismissed Karlsson's description as the "view of Westerners". [19] Later, he explained his purpose was to highlight "how the implications of the 'terrorism' have changed over the course of the past century". [20] In 2013, Tessa Morris-Suzuki, an English historian and professor at Australian National University, concurred with Karlsson's explanation and wrote in her academic article, "If we accept the literal dictionary definition of the term terrorists as partisan, member of a resistance organization or guerrilla force using acts of violence then Yoo was self-evidently a terrorist." [20]
On the other hand, at the "International Research Conference in Memory of the 70th Anniversary of Yun Bong-gil & Lee Bong-chang's Patriotic Acts", held on 29 April 2002 in Shanghai, some scholars present pointed out that Yun's patriotic acts have distinct differences from modern day terrorism, which targets civilians. Yun only attacked the Japanese top military and political officials attending the event, and no other civilians were hurt by the bombing. To protect civilians, Yun waited until all the diplomats had left the scene. [21]
In popular culture
Yun is played by Lee Kang-min in the 2019 television series Different Dreams . [22] [23]
See also
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References
- ↑ 윤봉길(尹奉吉) [Yun Bong-gil]. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- ↑ 윤봉길. terms.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ↑ "March First Movement". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- 1 2 "In memory of Yun Bong-gil and His Bombing in Shanghai". Ministry of Patriots & Veterans Affairs. 29 April 2008.
- ↑ 윤봉길. terms.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ↑ "Yun Bong-gil". World War II Database. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- 1 2 Lee, Bong (2003). The Unfinished War: Korea . Algora Publishing. p. 13.
- ↑ "Peace Talks Postponed.; SHANGHAI BOMBING HALTS PEACE TALKS (Published 1932)". The New York Times. 30 April 1932. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ↑ "韩国临时政府在华二十六年". Beijing Digest. 14 December 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018.
- ↑ ""尹奉吉之伟业永垂不朽" 蒋介石献诗被公开". 中央日报. 19 December 2013. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ↑ "The emotional ties that bind forever". chinadailyasia.com. 27 May 2014.
- ↑ "Hyochang Park, Seoul". Cultural Heritage Administration . Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ↑ 최, 용수 (17 June 2021). 그냥 지나칠 수 없는 '효창공원 다섯 무궁화 이야기'. mediahub.seoul.go.kr (in Korean). Seoul Metropolitan Government . Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ↑ 서울 효창공원 (─孝昌公園) [Hyochang Park in Seoul]. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ↑ 백, 성호 (19 December 2013). "윤봉길 길이 빛나리" 장제스 헌시 공개. JoongAng Ilbo.
- ↑ "About Yun Bong-gil".
- ↑ "Naver Knowledge encyclopedia" (in Korean).
- ↑ "Foreign Professor Calls Kim Gu, Yun Bong-gil 'Terrorists': Report". The Marmot's Hole. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- 1 2 Tessa Morris-Suzuki (2013). "Heroes collaborators and survivors: Korean kamikaze pilots and the ghosts of wars in Japan and Korea". ANU Research Publications. hdl:1885/49976.
- ↑ 崔志鹰 (2002). "上海召开"纪念尹奉吉、李奉昌义举70周年国际学术会议"". Contemporary Korea (《当代韩国》) (in Chinese). 02.
尹奉吉的义举不能与当代被世人所谴责的恐怖活动相提并论。现代的恐怖活动是伤害无辜的平民百姓, 制造恐怖的气氛。而尹奉吉的刺杀行动是针对日本侵略者的头目, 是反抗侵略和压迫的正义行动, 他没有伤及任何一个无辜的平民百姓。当时, 尹奉吉为了不伤害无辜, 他冒着被发现的危险, 等到各国外交人员全部离开之后,才扔出炸弹。......义烈斗争并非简单的个人的恐怖行动, 它是韩国独立运动的一种方略, 在当时的历史条件下,是唯一能选择的斗争方式。
- ↑ Lee, Mi-young (22 June 2019). '이몽', 윤봉길 의사 등장…일왕에 폭탄 투척 "뜨거운 하이라이트". inews24 (in Korean). Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ↑ Yoo, Jung-hee (24 June 2019). '이몽', 윤봉길 의사 투탄 의거 재조명…묵직한 울림. The Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). Retrieved 1 September 2021.
External links
Yun Bong-gil | |
|---|---|
 Yun in 1932 | |
| Born | 21 June 1908 |
| Died | 19 December 1932 (aged 24) |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Burial place |
|
| Awards | Order of Merit for National Foundation |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 윤봉길 |
| Hanja | 尹奉吉 |
| Revised Romanization | Yun Bonggil |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yun Ponggil |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
