Cho Man-sik ( ko, 조만식; pen-name Kodang; 1 February 1883 – 15 or 18 October 1950) was a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

activist in Korea's independence movement. He became involved in the power struggle that enveloped

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

in the months following the

Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Originally, Cho was supported by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

for the eventual rule of North Korea. However, due to his opposition to

trusteeship Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

, Cho lost Soviet support and was forced from power by the Soviet-backed and pro Soviet communists in the north (a predecessor of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of ...

). Placed under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

in January 1946, he later disappeared into the North Korean prison system, where confirmed reports of him end. He is generally believed to have been executed soon after the start of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, possibly in October 1950.

Early life

Cho was born in

Kangsŏ-gun Kangsŏ is a ward in Nampo, Namp'o Special City, South Pyongan Province, South P'yŏngan province, North Korea. The population is 191,356. Administrative divisions Kangsŏ-guyŏk is divided into 14 ''tong'' (neighbourhoods) and 6 ''ri'' (village ...

, South P'yŏngan Province, now in

on 1 February 1883. He was raised and educated in a traditional

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

style but later converted to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and became an elder. From June 1908 to 1913 Cho moved to Japan to study

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

in Tokyo at

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

. It was during his stay in Tokyo that Cho came into contact with

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

’s ideas of non-violence and self-sufficiency. Cho also admired the teachings of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

. Cho later used these ideas of

non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

opposition to resist Japanese rule.

Independence movement

After Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910 Cho became increasingly involved with his country's

independence movement Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. His participation in the

March 1st Movement The March 1st Movement, also known as the Sam-il (3-1) Movement (Hangul: 삼일 운동; Hanja: 三一運動), was a protest movement by Korean people and students calling for independence from Japan in 1919, and protesting forced assimilation ...

led to his arrest and detention, along with tens of thousands of other Koreans. He is also famous for publicly rejecting the Japanese Imperial government's policy of pressuring Koreans to legally change their surnames into Japanese. He was imprisoned for helping organize the

. In 1922 Cho established the Korean Products Promotion Society with the objective of achieving economic self-sufficiency and that Koreans could obtain solely home-produced products. Cho intended the Society to be a national movement supported by all religious organizations and social groups, particularly ordinary Koreans. Due to the Korean Products Promotion Society, his strong non-violent resistance, and leading by example rather than political or social authority, Cho gained respect even from critics, and earned himself the title “Gandhi of Korea”. Despite this record, his encouragement of Korean student enlistment in the

Imperial Japanese Armed Forces The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF) were the combined military forces of the Japanese Empire. Formed during the Meiji Restoration in 1868,"One can date the 'restoration' of imperial rule from the edict of 3 January 1868." p. 334. they ...

earned him a mixed reputation with some of his fellow nationalists.

Post World War II activism

In August 1945, with Japanese surrender imminent, Cho was approached by the Japanese governor of

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

and asked to organise a committee to assume control and maintain stability in the power vacuum that would inevitably follow. He agreed to co-operate, and on 17 August 1945 formed the Provisional People's Committee for the Five Provinces. He also joined the cabinet of the

People's Republic of Korea The People's Republic of Korea (PRK) was a short-lived provisional government that was organized at the time of the surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of World War II. It was proclaimed on 6 September 1945, as Korea was being divided ...

, making the Provisional People's Committee for the Five Provinces its northern branch. The committee functioned to standardize the number of members, duties, and electoral processes for the formation of People’s Committees at the provincial, city, country, township, and village levels. Cho also affiliated this committee to the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence (CPKI). The Provisional People’s Committee for the Five Provinces generally composed of right-wing nationalists opposed to

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. When the

Soviet Civil Administration The Soviet Civil Administration (SCA) was the government of the northern half of Korea from 24 August 1945 to 9 September 1948 though governed concurrently after the setup of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea in 1946. Even thoug ...

arrived in Pyongyang following the

they hoped they could influence Cho Man-sik. Cho was at this time the most popular leader in Pyongyang due mainly to his constant resistance to the Japanese and his formation of the Korean Products Promotions Society. Soviet officers regularly met with Cho and tried to convince him to head the emerging North Korea administration. Cho however disliked communism and did not trust foreign powers. Cho Man-sik would have agreed to co-operate with the Soviet authorities only on his own terms, such as extensive autonomy. Cho's conditions were not accepted by the Soviet leaders and supervisors. Despite his rejection of Soviet requests he was able to remain as chairman of the South P’yŏngan People’s Committee. On 3 November 1945, Cho also established his own political party: The Democratic Party of Korea. At the beginning it was intended to turn into an authentic political organization of the nationalist right with the aim to bring about a democratic society after Japanese occupation. The Soviets, however, did not approve of the Democratic Party of Korea and thus under socialist pressure, Choi Yong-kun was elected the first deputy chairman of the party. Choi Yong-kun was a guerrilla soldier who served in the 88th brigade of the Soviet Union, and was a friend of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

. The party was therefore influenced by Soviet ideals from the beginning. Soviet faith that Cho Man-sik could become a North Korean leader with Soviet ideals diminished and new hope was placed on the Korean communist and pre-Soviet officer

. Kim Il-sung had trained in the Soviet and Chinese Communist Army (latter is

Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army The Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army was the main anti-Japanese guerrilla army in Northeast China (Manchuria) after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Its predecessors were various anti-Japanese volunteer armies organized by locals ...

, a predecessor of today

PLA PLA may refer to: Organizations Politics and military * People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party * People's Liberation Army (disambiguation) ** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called ...

) for ten years, rising to the rank of major. Under Soviet pressure, Cho was obliged to reorganize the Provisional People's Committee for the Five Provinces, and accept more communists onto the councils. The opposing ideologies of Kim and Cho led to a clash between the two men, and the forced power-sharing failed to sit well with either of them. The 1945 Moscow Conference between the victorious

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

discussed the statehood of Korea, proposing a four-power

for a period of five years, after which Korea would become an independent state. For Cho, this would result in excessive foreign, and particularly communist, influence over his country, and he refused to co-operate. On 1 January 1946, Andrey Alekseyevich Romanenko, a Soviet leader, met with Cho and tried to persuade him to sign support of the trusteeship. Cho however, refused to sign support. After Soviet leaders realized that they could not persuade Cho to endorse Soviet trusteeship, they lost all remaining hope of Cho becoming a prominent North Korean leader reflecting Soviet ideals. The Soviets were also displeased by Cho's

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

faith and his open protests against war crimes committed by the Soviet occupation force. On 5 January, Cho was arrested by Soviet soldiers and detained in

Koryo Hotel The Koryo Hotel is the second largest operating hotel in North Korea, the largest being the Yanggakdo Hotel. The Ryugyong Hotel is larger than both, but is not yet operating. The twin-towered Koryo Hotel building is 143 metres (469 ft ...

. For some time he was kept under comfortable conditions at the Koryo Hotel, from which position he continued to vocally oppose the communists. The

discredited Cho by spreading rumors that he

collaborated Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with Japan. He stood in the 1948 vice-presidency election, but by then the Communist influence in the country's affairs was too strong, and he was unsuccessful, receiving only 10 votes from the National Assembly. Cho was later transferred to a prison in Pyongyang, where confirmed reports of him end. In June 1950, days before the North Korean invasion of South Korea, the Northern and Southern governments reached a tentative agreement to exchange Cho and his son for jailed South Korean Workers' Party leaders Kim Sam-yong and Yu Ju-ha. However, by June 24th the two sides could not agree on a modality of exchange. After the start of the war the next day, Kim and Yu were executed at Namsan in Seoul. Cho is generally believed to have been executed along with other

political prisoners A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

during the early days of the

, possibly in October 1950. The

North Korean defector Since the division of Korea after the end of World War II, North Koreans have fled from the country in spite of legal punishment for political, ideological, religious, economic, moral, personal, or nutritional reasons. Such North Koreans are re ...

Park Gil-yong claimed Cho was killed by the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...

in a massacre of 5,000 inmates during its evacuation of Pyongyang. Cho's removal opened the way for

to consolidate his power in the north, a position he was able to hold for 48 years until his death in 1994.

Legacy

In 1970, Cho's deeds gained posthumous recognition when

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n government awarded him the Order of the Republic of Korea in the

Order of Merit for National Foundation The Order of Merit for National Foundation (Hangul: 건국훈장) is one of South Korea's orders of merit. It is awarded by the President of South Korea for "outstanding meritorious services in the interest of founding or laying a foundation for th ...

. Cho Man-sik, Gye-Jun Ryu, Kim Dong-won, and Oh Yun-seon are cited as the pillars of the Sanjunghyun Church in

. The

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

''Ko-Dang'' was named in honour of Cho Man-sik.

References

Bibliography