Park Seung-hwan was a Korean major, war hero and independence activist of the

Korean Empire The Korean Empire () was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire stood until Japan's annexation of Korea in August 1910. During the Korean Empire, Emperor Gojong oversaw the Gwa ...

. He was known for organizing the

Battle of Namdaemun "Battle of Namdaemun")--> The Battle of Namdaemun (남대문 전투), also known as the Battle of the South Great Gate, was an insurgency by the Korean army against Japanese forces in Korea as a reaction to the disbandment of the Korean army fo ...

after his suicide as a response to the

Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907 The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907 was made between the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire in 1907. Negotiations were concluded on July 24, 1907.Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922. (1922 ...

and the abdication of Emperor Gojong.

Biography

He was born on September 7, 1869, in

Hanseong 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 ...

Gyeonggi 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 ...

as the eldest of three children of Park Joo-pyo and Namyang Hong. In 1887, he took the exam in Mugwa and on September 28, 1896, he entered the . During his education at the academy,

Yi Hak-gyun Yi Hak-gyun (Korean: 이학균, Chinese: 李學均) was a general and an official of Korean Empire. He was one of the Pro-Russian and American politicians of the Korean Empire like Yi Yong-ik. Bibliography In 1888, Yi was appointed as Aide-de ...

, a Korean nationalist Major, was the principal, which made Park to shape himself as a nationalist soldier. He graduated on March 21, 1897, and was commissioned as a Second-Lieutenant in the Imperial Korean Guards. Afterwards, on November 11, 1899, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the army and was appointed as the platoon commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Siwi Regiment and on July 23, 1900, he was promoted to the rank of captain and took the command of the 1st company of the 1st Qinwi Regiment. Then on 14 August 1900 he took the command of company leader of the 1st Siwi Regiment. On 15 February 1904, Park was promoted to Major and became the 1st Battalion leader of

1st Siwi Regiment The 1st Siwi Regiment later Siwi Mixed Brigade was a unit of Imperial Korean Army. The regiment was formed in May 1898. However after the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907, the regiment was disestablished. Lineage By the order of Gojong of Korea, 1st ...

. While serving as the 1st Battalion Commander of the 1st Siwi Regiment, he entered the palace when Emperor Gojong was forcibly taken away by the Japanese in 1907 and attempted to restore the throne, but he stopped because he was afraid of harm to King Gojong. On August 1, 1907, he gathered officers above a battalion commander or higher at the Japanese military headquarters to disband the army. Park then committed suicide with a pistol and wrote a

suicide letter A suicide note or death note is a message left behind by a person who dies or intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depen ...

which read: When Park's suicide became known, some of the soldiers of the 1st Chamryeong under him became enraged and started an anti-Japanese uprising, which lead to the

. After the battle was put down, the Imperial Japanese government defamed Park's suicide. In 1909,

An Jung-geun Ahn Jung-geun, sometimes spelled Ahn Joong-keun (; 2 September 1879 – 26 March 1910; baptismal name: Thomas Ahn ), was a Korean-independence activist, nationalist, and pan-Asianist. He is famous for assassination of Itō Hirobumi, the first ...

assassinated

Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated samur ...

Harbin Station Harbin railway station () is a railway station on the Jingha railway, Binsui Railway, Labin Railway, Binbei Railway and Binzhou Railway. The station is in Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. History Songhuajiang station () was ope ...

to avenge Park's death.

Legacy

After his death, in 1962, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Order of Merit for National Foundation by the Government of South Korea. In August 2003, he was selected as the national figure of South Korea.

Family

Park had a son named Park Jeong-hup and he had 2 grandchildren,

Park Dae-jong Park Dae-jong (21 January 1917 – 16 August 1995) was a South Korean footballer. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as Lon ...

and Park Wang-jong.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Seung-hwan 1869 births 1907 deaths People from Seoul Suicides by firearm in Korea Korean independence activists Imperial Korean military personnel 1907 suicides