Chang Chun-ha (장준하, 張俊河, August 27, 1918 in

Uiju County Ŭiju County is a kun, or county, in North Pyongan Province, North Korea. The county has an area of 420 km², and a population of 110,018 (2008 data). Name Ŭiju appears as Uiju in South Korea's Revised Romanization and as Yizhou in Chinese ...

– August 17, 1975 in

Uijeongbu Uijeongbu () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Overview Uijeongbu is located north of the Korean capital Seoul; it lies inside a defile, with mountains on two sides, and commands a natural choke point across the main traditional in ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

) was a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n independence and democracy activist who later became a journalist in South Korea.

Military career

When Korea was under Japanese rule, he participated in education activities and voluntarily joined the Japanese army called Sugada but he escaped the army in 1944 when he was in Suzhou,

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

. His joining of Sugada army was only nominally voluntarily as it was forced by the Japanese army for Korean males to join the army. He then was trained at China Central Officer School and became a warrant officer in the Chinese Central Army. In 1945, he visited

Korean Liberation Army The Korean Liberation Army, also known as the Korean Restoration Army established on September 17, 1940, in Chungking, China, was the armed force of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Its commandant was General Ji Cheong-cheon, ...

located in Suzhou and joined the army from the February as a commissioned officer. While serving the Korean liberation army, he participated activities with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS; the predecessor of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

). In November 1945, he came back to Korea via the

Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea The Korean Provisional Government (KPG), formally the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, was a partially recognized Korean government-in-exile based in Shanghai, China, and later in Chongqing, during the period of Japanese co ...

In politics

After returning to Korea, Chang worked as a secretary of

Kim Gu Kim Gu (, ; August 29, 1876 – June 26, 1949), also known by his pen name Baekbeom (백범; ), was a Korean statesman. He was the sixth, ninth, and president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea; a leader of the Korean indepen ...

and participated in Lee Beom-seok's Chosun Ethnic Youth League. After the establishment of Republic of Korea, during the

First Republic of South Korea The first Republic of Korea () was the government of South Korea from August 1948 to April 1960. The first republic was founded on 15 August 1948 after the transfer from the United States Army Military Government that governed South Korea sin ...

, he worked for the government as a secretary. In 1950, he was in charge of citizen spirit reformation in the Ministry of Education and Culture (문교부). In 1952, he was the directing manager of national ideology research institution. He also worked in two more positions in the Ministry of Education and Culture and founded a periodical called ''Sasangge''. He established the

Dong-in Literary Award The Dong-in Literary Award ( ko, 동인문학상) is a South Korean literary award named after novelist Kim Dong-in, established in order to praise the literary achievement of The Republic of Korea. In commemoration of the Korean modern literatu ...

in 1956. ''Sasangge'' acrimoniously denounced the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

administration and became the starting fire of the 4.19 revolution. After the 4.19 revolution took place, he took positions in the Ministry of Munkyo during the second republic. After the

May 16 coup The May 16 military coup d'état () was a military coup d'état in South Korea in 1961, organized and carried out by Park Chung-hee and his allies who formed the Military Revolutionary Committee, nominally led by Army Chief of Staff Chang Do ...

, he opposed the South Korea–Japan conference and the sending of troops to

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. During the 1967 South Korean presidential election, he made an issue out of the career of

Yun Bo-seon Yun Po-sun (; or ; August 26, 1897 – July 18, 1990) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the second president of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. He was the only president of the parliamentary Second Republic of Korea. H ...

on Park Chung-hee's pro-Japanese and

Workers' Party of South Korea The Workers' Party of South Korea ( ko, 남조선로동당) was a communist party in South Korea from 1946 to 1949. It was founded on 23 November 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of South Korea, New People's Party of Korea and a fa ...

activities. He was then sent into prison for insulting the head of the state. After he came out of prison, he worked with

and

New Democratic Party (South Korea) The New Democratic Party (, NDP) was a South Korean opposition party that existed from 1967 to 1980, when it was forcibly dissolved by the ninth amendment of the constitution promulgated by Chun Doo-hwan the same year. It was the main opposition ...

in the

Korean National Party The Korean National Party ( ko, 한국국민당, Hangukgukmindang, Korea National Citizen's Party) was a political party in South Korea. History The party was established on 23 January 1981 following a meeting of fifteen former MPs from the Dem ...

. From 1975, when he was preparing to fight against the Park Chung-hee administration, he died mysteriously in

Pocheon Pocheon () is an inland city in the far northeastern region of Gyeonggi province in South Korea. It covers 2 with a population of 160,176 people, according to the 2008 census. Pocheon lies between Seoul and the mountainous northwestern areas of G ...

, Gyeonggi-do. The South Korean government announced that Chang's death had been caused by loss of footing while climbing down a mountain. However, after Chang's death, continuous doubts were raised whether it was a homicide by Park's government. To such doubts, the Park administration declared the state of national emergency and arrested anyone who mentioned the death of Chang Chun-ha. The death of Chang Chun-ha has been re-investigated, but there have not been any clear conclusions yet.

Awards

Chang was the first Korean to win the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and the Creative Communication Arts.Awardees
Ramon Magsaysay Award

References

External links

Chang Chun-ha Memorial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Chun-ha 1918 births 1975 deaths People from Uiju County Korean independence activists South Korean anti-communists South Korean democracy activists Korean revolutionaries South Korean Methodists South Korean civil rights activists South Korean journalists Liberalism in South Korea Korean religious leaders Democratic Party (South Korea, 1955) politicians Ramon Magsaysay Award winners Jang clan of Andong 20th-century journalists

Military career

In politics

Awards

See also

References

External links