Na Seokju (, 1892-1926) was a Korean nationalist made famous for his attack on the

Oriental Development Company The Oriental Development Company (Kyūjitai/Hanja: 東洋拓殖株式會社, Hangul: 동양척식주식회사), established by the Empire of Japan in 1908, was a national enterprise built as a result of Japanese colonial exploitation policy towar ...

, an organization set up by

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

as part of its imperial expansion and the development of its colonies.Edwin H. Gragert. ''Landownership Under Colonial Rule: Korea's Japanese Experience, 1900-1935.''

University of Hawaiʻi Press The University of Hawaii Press is a university press that is part of the University of Hawaii. The University of Hawaii Press was founded in 1947, publishing research in all disciplines of the humanities and natural and social sciences in the r ...

, 1994. Korea had been declared a Japanese protectorate in 1905 and annexed in 1910.

Life

Na Seokju originally grew up as a farmer in Chaeryong County,

Hwanghae Province Hwanghae Province (''Hwanghae-do'' ) was one of the Eight Provinces of Korea during the Joseon era. Hwanghae was located in the northwest of Korea. The provincial capital was Haeju. The regional name for the province was Haeseo. History In 139 ...

.Kim Jinwung. ''A History of Korea: From "Land of the Morning Calm" to States in Conflict''. Indiana University Press, 2012. As he got older, he moved to

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

in order to receive military training for four years."Movement Activist." ''Independence Hall''. The Independence Hall of Korea. Accessed 10 Dec. 2013. After completing his training, Na Seokju returned to his hometown and worked as the manager of a local store. During this period, Na was also involved in underground political movements against the Japanese colonial rule of Korea; during 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 ...

(1919) in occupied Korea, he helped to organize local protest efforts and raise funds for Korean nationalist militant groups. In 1920 Na Seokju was found responsible for killing multiple Japanese authorities, as well as a Korean man believed to be a conspirator with the Japanese, resulting in Na's decision to flee to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

on September 22, 1920, to escape the charges. While in China Na served as a bodyguard for the

Provisional Government 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 ...

, which had been formed in reaction to Japanese suppression of Korean protesters and activists after the March 1st Movement. Na also visited

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

while in China in order to meet with

Kim Chang-suk Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese fo ...

, who asked him to blow up the

, Joseon Bank, and

Industrial Bank of Japan The Industrial Bank of Japan, Limited (IBJ), based in Tokyo, Japan, was one of the largest banks in the world during the latter half of the 20th century. It combined with Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and Fuji Bank in 2002 to form Mizuho Financial Grou ...

buildings upon his return to Korea.

Attack

On December 26, 1926, Na Seokju travelled south from Manchuria towards

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

. After using various disguises to get across the Chinese-Korean border and through different checkpoints, Na finally arrived in Seoul on December 28. He first went to the Industrial Bank, where he detonated a grenade near the loan department, destroying it. From there, he made his way to the Oriental Development Company building, where he shot multiple Japanese office workers within the building; Na then attempted to detonate another grenade in order to kill several higher-level employees, but failed when the grenade proved to be a dud. After leaving the second building, Na attempted to escape the premises, killing a Japanese police officer in the process. Na was pursued by the Japanese police force. In order to avoid being apprehended, Na Seokju shot himself three times in the chest, and died later that day after being rushed to hospital.

Legacy

Although some have labelled Na Seokju a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

for his actions, particularly his attacks on non-military targets, others have celebrated his efforts to liberate colonial-era Korea from its Japanese invaders. Na was given posthumous honors, and acknowledged as a nationalist hero, with a statue of him erected in Seoul.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Na, Seokju 1892 births 1926 deaths People from Chaeryong County Korean independence activists 1926 suicides Suicides by firearm in Korea Multiple gunshot suicides