Jang In-hwan (March 30, 1875 – April 24, 1930) was a
Korean independence activist. He is best known along with
Jeon Myeong-un for his role in the 1908
assassination of Durham Stevens, a former diplomat and Japan lobbyist.
[ ]
Incident
Jang, a
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 ...
, emigrated from Korea to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
in February 1905, and from there to the
continental United States
The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
in August 1906.
He became involved with the
Korean independence movement
The Korean independence movement was a military and diplomatic campaign to achieve the independence of Korea from Japan. After the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910, Korea's domestic resistance peaked in the March 1st Movement of 1919, which ...
while living there, and joined the ''Daedong Bogukhoe''. In March 1908, infuriated by Stevens' remarks about Japanese rule in Korea, the ''Daedong Bogukhoe'' held a joint meeting with the ''Dongnip Hyeophoe'', another local association of Koreans of which Jeon was a member.
Yang Ju-eun, a fellow member of the association, recalled in a 1974 interview that Jang, in contrast to Jeon, did not say a single word during that meeting; Jang had a reputation as a "quiet and shy Christian gentleman." However, he purchased a gun from his roommate in order to circumvent laws which prevented Asians from owning guns.
On March 23, 1908, Jeon and Jang approached Stevens at the
Port of San Francisco
The Port of San Francisco is a semi-independent organization that oversees the port facilities at San Francisco, California, United States. It is run by a five-member commission, appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Board of Supervisors. Th ...
as he prepared to embark on a ferry to
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
to make a rail connection to
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Jeon fired his
revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
at Stevens first, but missed, and instead rushed at him, using his weapon
as a club to hit Stevens in the face. Jang then accidentally fired into the melee, striking Stevens twice in the back; Jeon was also shot in the confusion. The crowd which had gathered urged that they be
lynched
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
on the spot; Jang was arrested and held without bail on a charge of murder, while Jeon was sent to the hospital for treatment.
[ Some accounts, notably Yang's, state that Jeon only had a toy gun.] He received news of Stevens' death two days later with "manifest delight".
Trial
Because there was insufficient evidence to prove that Jeon and Jang had conspired with each other, Jeon was released in June, and Jang ordered to stand trial as the sole defendant.
The Korean community hired three lawyers to defend Jang, among whom one, Nathan Coughlan, eventually agreed to take on the case ''
pro bono
( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...
''. During the trial, he planned to use
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...
's theory of "patriotic insanity" to argue that Jang was
not guilty by reason of insanity.
Jang's trial was originally scheduled to begin on July 27 in the San Francisco Superior Court. However, on the day of the trial, presiding judge
Carroll Cook
Carroll Cook (January 15, 1855 – January 8, 1915) was an attorney and judge for the Superior Court in San Francisco. He was best known for the national attention drawn to some of his rulings in famous cases, several of which were upheld by th ...
held a conference in chambers with Coughlan and several members of the Korean community, as a result of which the trial was delayed by one month. The jury found him guilty of
second-degree murder on December 23 of that same year.
Jang himself stated through an interpreter that he would prefer death rather than imprisonment; however, he was ordered to serve a 25-year sentence at
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.
Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...
, but was released in 1919, having served only 10 years.
He repatriated to Korea in 1927, where he attended the wedding of
Cho Man-sik
Cho Man-sik ( ko, 조만식; pen-name Kodang; 1 February 1883 – 15 or 18 October 1950) was a nationalist activist in Korea's independence movement. He became involved in the power struggle that enveloped North Korea in the months following t ...
and established an orphanage in
Sonchon
Sŏnch'ŏn County is a ''kun'', or county, on the coast of the Yellow Sea in west-central North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. To the north it borders Ch'ŏnma, to the east Kusŏng and Kwaksan, and to the west Tongrim; to the south, it borde ...
,
North Pyongan
North Pyongan Province (Phyŏnganbukto; , also spelled North P'yŏngan), is a western province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former P'yŏng'an Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, th ...
; however, under pressure from the
Japanese government of Korea, he returned to the United States again.
He committed suicide in San Francisco in 1930, and was buried there.
Jang was posthumously awarded 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 ...
by
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 ...
's
Ministry of Patriots' and Veterans' Affairs
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA; ; Hanja: 國家報勳處) is a ministry under the Government of South Korea which handles veterans. It was established in August 1961 as the Soldiers' Affairs Agency.
List of Ministers
Timel ...
in 1962. In 1975,
South Korean president
The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (often abbreviated to POTROK or POSK; ), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president leads the State Council, and is ...
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...
ordered that he be reburied in the
Seoul National Cemetery
The Seoul National Cemetery () is located in Dongjak-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The cemetery is reserved for Korean veterans, including those who died in the Korean independence movement, Korean War, and Vietnam War. Four South Kore ...
.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jang, In-Hwan
1880 births
1930 suicides
Korean assassins
Korean independence activists
People from Pyongyang
Prisoners and detainees of California
Korean people imprisoned abroad
Korean expatriates in the United States
Suicides in California
Recipients of the Order of Merit for National Foundation