Cultural Heritage Representing Korea’s Desire for Independence 

Returns Home after 100 Years

 - Retrieved Cultural Heritage Items (Documents Related to Righteous Armies at the End of the Korean Empire, Hanil gwangye saryojip (Sourcebook on Korea-Japan Relations), and Hanging Board with the Poem “The Rhyme for the Hall for the Tomb in Johyeon”) to Be Revealed to the Press for the First Time on August 14 in Honor of Korea’s National Liberation Day -

On August 14, the day before Korea’s National Liberation Day, at 10:30 a.m. at the National Palace Museum of Korea (located in Jongno-gu, Seoul), the Korea Heritage Service (Administrator: Choi Eung-Chon) will unveil to the press for the first time the cultural heritage items related to Korea’s independence that have been returned from overseas, including Japan and the U.S., by the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (Chair: Kim Jung-hee; hereafter the OKCHF). These items are known as Documents Related to Righteous Armies at the End of the Korean Empire, Hanil gwangye saryojip: Gukje Yeonmaeng jechul Joil gwangye saryojip (Sourcebook on Korea-Japan Relations for Submission to the League of Nations) (hereafter Sourcebook on Korea-Japan Relations), and Hanging Board with the Poem “The Rhyme for the Hall for the Tomb in Johyeon.”

* Documents Related to Righteous Armies at the End of the Korean Empire (produced in the mid-19th–early 20th century / paper, two handscrolls), (Handscroll I): L. 35 × W. 406.5 cm, (Handscroll II): L. 35 × W. 569.5 cm

* Sourcebook on Korea-Japan Relations (published by the Korean Provisional Government in 1919 / paper, one set (four volumes in complete set)), (Each volume) L. 32 × W. 19 cm

* Hanging Board with the Poem “The Rhyme for the Hall for the Tomb in Johyeon” (produced in the mid-19th–early 20th century / wood), L. 34 × W. 50 cm

Documents Related to Righteous Armies at the End of the Korean Empire were retrieved from Japan in July 2024 using lottery funds. It consists of nine documents written by members of the Thirteen Provinces Alliance of Righteous Armies*, including Heo Wi* and Yi Gangnyeon*, and four letters written by Yu Junggyo* and Choe Ikhyeon*. The letters were confiscated by the Japanese military police when Uiamjip*(a collection of poetry and prose by Yu Inseok*, who was a general of a righteous army) was being compiled. These thirteen documents were mounted in the form of two handscrolls by pasting thick paper onto them. According to notes added to the main text at the beginning of each handscroll, a Japanese military policeman named Gaecheon Jangchi (芥川長治)* collected them and arranged them in their present format in 1939.

* Thirteen Provinces Alliance of Righteous Armies: A collection of anti-Japanese forces spanning all the provinces of Korea at the time. It was organized in Yangju, Gyeonggi-do Province in 1907.

* Heo Wi (1855–1908): He served as the gunsajang (division commander) of the Thirteen Provinces Alliance of Righteous Armies, and later became its second chongdaejang (commander-in-chief).

* Yi Gangnyeon (1858–1908): A general in the Chungcheong-do division of the Thirteen Provinces Alliance of Righteous Armies

* Yu Inseok (1842–1915): A general who served as a provincial chief minister for the Righteous Army of the Thirteen Provinces (a federation of righteous army forces formed in the Maritime Province in Russia) and a leader of the anti-Japanese righteous army movement

* Yu Junggyo (1821–1893): A central figure in the Hwaseo school of thought, which supported defending Neo-Confucian values and rejecting the West. He trained Yu Inseok, who became a righteous army general.

* Choe Ikhyeon (1833–1906): A Confucian scholar and a leader of the school of thought supporting the defense of Neo-Confucian values and rejection of the West in the late Joseon period. He was also a general who led the anti-Japanese righteous army movement by personally recruiting soldiers and urging them to fight against Japan when the Eulsa Treaty between Korea and Japan was imposed in 1905.

* Gaecheon Jangchi: After being reappointed as a corporal in the military police of the Japanese Government-General in Korea in the 1910s, he served as a police superintendent at the Japanese consulate generals in Longjing and Harbin until 1935.

Gaecheon Jangchi wrote the respective titles “Letter from a leader who rejected Japan at the end of the Korean Empire period” and “Manifesto by the leader of a mob who rejected Japan at the end of the Korean Empire period” on the handscrolls. These titles reflect the Japanese government’s negative view of righteous armies, which were being targeted for repression at the time. Moreover, their added texts record that Gaecheon arrested Heo Wi and Yi Gangnyeon and raided the site where Uiamjip was being compiled. They are evidence of the Japanese suppression of the righteous armies and coercion of their members. They also clearly relate how a Japanese citizen obtained the documents, lending further significance to the handscrolls.

The document written by Heo Wi, its second chongdaejang (commander-in-chief), on the day he was arrested (the thirteenth day of the fifth lunar month of 1908) and another written by Heo Gyeom* and No Jaehun*, both of whom lamented the arrest of Heo Wi and urged the military camps (uijin*) to cooperate with each other, add historical value to the collection by demonstrating the fierce spirit of the resistance against Japan.

* Uijin: A righteous army military camp

* Heo Gyeom (1851–1939): The third brother of Heo Wi and the first president of the Bumindan Korean independence organization in Manchuria

* No Jaehun (dates unknown): A general of the righteous army active in Yangju

Sourcebook on Korea-Japan Relations was a collection of information on history published by the Korean Provisional Government in 1919 as part of its demand that the independence of the Korean people be supported by the League of Nations*. It was returned to South Korea last May after being in the possession of a Korean-American collector. He donated this important cultural heritage to the OKCHF without any strings attached, saying he wanted more people to appreciate it.

One hundred sets of Sourcebook on Korea-Japan Relations were originally published, but only three complete sets (including the retrieved one) have survived. Among the other two sets, one has been designated as national registered cultural heritage and is housed in the Independence Hall of Korea. The other is in the C. V. Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University in the U.S. Their rarity makes the return significant. Moreover, the returned sourcebook is expected to be highly valuable to future research on the history of Korea’s independence movement since the seal imprinted at the beginning of each volume seems to indicate that it was a sutaekbon (a book that has been kept close to its owner and read frequently) of the independence activist Kim Byeongjo*, who was one of its authors.

* The League of Nations: An international organization conceived in 1919 following World War I and established in 1920 as a predecessor to the United Nations (UN)

* Kim Byeongjo (1877–1948): An independence activist and one of the thirty-three Korean leaders of the March First Movement in 1919. As a member of the temporary source compilation committee, he wrote the Sourcebook on Korea-Japan Relations along with Yi Wonik and Kim Dubong.

The final item retrieved is the Hanging Board with the Poem “The Rhyme for the Hall for a Tomb in Johyeon.” It was returned from Japan after being donated last June by Kim Kangwon, a collector who runs an antique art business in Tokyo. The poem was composed by Song Hun (1862–1926), the father of the independence activist Song Jinwoo* and the founder of the Damyang School. It is a heptasyllabic regulated verse (chireon yulsi*) relating a prayer for the prosperity of descendants in commemoration of a newly built hall for a tomb in Johyeon, the former designation for the area currently known as Gwangdeok-ri, Changpyeong-myeon, Damyang-gun in Jeollanam-do Province.

* Song Jinwoo (1890–1945; sobriquet: Goha): The president of the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper company during the Japanese colonial era, Song Jinwoo advocated for the Native Products Promotion Movement, the Movement to Establish a People’s University, and the rural awakening movement “V narod” (literary meaning given to the people). He was a journalist, educator, politician, and independence activist who refused to engage in activities that could be considered collaboration with Japanese authorities, such as worshiping at Shinto shrines or the campaign for encouraging Korean students to enlist in the Japanese armed forces. He also developed an anti-Japanese media campaign.

* Chireon yulsi: A Chinese-character poem with eight heptasyllabic verses

At this event, five objects of clothing and a belt worn by Choe Ikhyeon (a general of a righteous army) that were designated as national folklore cultural heritage on August 13, the day before the event, are also being introduced to the press. Introducing these objects together with Documents Related to Righteous Armies at the End of the Korean Empire (including Choe’s letter) is intended to stress the importance of retrieving cultural heritage and to recall the unyielding will of Choe Ikhyeon to protect the country.

Choi Eung-Chon, the Administrator of the Korea Heritage Service, stated, “The retrieval of cultural heritage items being revealed at this time is especially valuable in that it marks not simply the physical restoration to South Korea of cultural heritage from overseas, but the recapturing of the determination of Korean ancestors to defend the country. This is also significant as a result of proactive administration made possible by collaboration between the government and the private sector, as well as a demonstration of the interest in Korean cultural heritage and the goodwill of their former owners.”

The Korea Heritage Service and the OKCHF will continue to protect and utilize Korean cultural heritage items housed overseas by actively discovering and retrieving them while strengthening local cooperative networks.

Division: International Cooperation Division, Heritage Promotion Bureau / Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation
Contact persons: Baek Hyun Min (042-481-4866)
Jang Jun Yong (042-481-4863)
Lee Jong Sook (042-481-4944)
Lee Se Hun (042-481-4945)
Kang Hae Seung (02-6902-0732)
Kim Seon Hui (02-6902-0771)

Attachment. Photos of the Retrieved Cultural Heritage Items