Song Yi-kyun (Hangul: 송이균; Hanja: 宋二均; 1885–1927) was a Korean-American activist in 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 ...
.
Life
Song Yi-Kyun was born in 1885 in Pyongyang, Korea. In 1913, he left Pyongyang to San Francisco for work. Shortly after his arrival, he became actively involved in the Korean independence movement and joined the
Korean National Association
The Korean National Association (; Hanja: 大韓人國民會), also known as All Korea Korean National Association, was a political organization established on February 1, 1909, to fight Japan's colonial policies and occupation in Korea. It w ...
(대한인) in October 1914, during the earlier years of the organization. From 1915 to 1916, he served as a student assistant in the Sacramento Regional Societies which was under the North American General Assembly of the KNA.
In May 1920, he became the commissioner of the Princeton District and provided financial support for the Independent Newspaper of the newly formed
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 c ...
. He also collected donations for the North American General Assembly and served as a recruiting committee member for the Princeton region for the relief of Korean and Chinese-Korean Families. In 1921 and 1922, he continued supplying funds for the Independence Movement as the treasurer of the Sacramento Regional Congress, and the Maxwell Regional Association.
While working for the KNA, he helped establish the
Willows Korean Aviation School in Glenn County, CA. He was the assistant administrator and in July 1920 published "The Prospectus of Korean Aviation School" to recruit Korean aviators for the Korean Independence Movement.
From 1914 to 1926, he supported the independence movement fund several times. He continued his work in the KNA until 1927, when he suffered fatal injuries to the head from a plane crash.
![Song Oh-Kyun and and his older brother, Song Yi-Kyun 1920s](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Song_Oh-Kyun_and_and_his_older_brother%2C_Song_Yi-Kyun_1920s.jpg)
Legacy
In 2016, Song Yi-Kyun was posthumously awarded the President's Commendation Award (대통령표창) for his contributions during the Korean Independence Movement.
[Korean Ministry of Patriots & Veterans Affairs. ]
See also
*
History of Korea
The Lower Paleolithic era in the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago.
Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825.
The earlies ...
*
Provisional Government of 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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Korean National Association
The Korean National Association (; Hanja: 大韓人國民會), also known as All Korea Korean National Association, was a political organization established on February 1, 1909, to fight Japan's colonial policies and occupation in Korea. It w ...
*
Sinhan Minbo
''Sinhan Minbo'' (; ) or ''The New Korea'' was a Korean-American newspaper founded on February 10, 1909, by the Korean National Association (KNA). It was based in San Francisco and published weekly. The newspaper became a vital part in promoting ...
*
Song Oh-kyun
Song Oh-kyun (Hangul: 송오균; Hanja: 宋五均; February 28, 1892 – June 20, 1970) was a rice farmer and Korean independence activist who was deeply involved in the Korean Independence Movement in the US. Between 1926 and 1945, he took leadin ...
References
Bibliography
* The New Korea, no. 386 (1916 Feb. 8), retrieved from http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll43/id/3985/rec/1
* The New Korea, no. 423 (1917 Feb. 15), retrieved from http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll43/id/4155/rec/34
*Kunminhoe Membership List, retrieved from http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll126/id/10959/rec/3
*The New Korea, no. 724 (1920 Dec. 23), retrieved from http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll43/id/5660/rec/57
*Chang T.E., & Han, W.S. (2015) Korean American Pioneer Aviators: The Willows Airmen. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books
*The New Korea, no. 705 (1920 Aug. 12) http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll43/id/5590/rec/43
*The New Korea, no. 953 (1924 Jan 24), retrieved from http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll43/id/6320/rec/11
*The New Korea no. 721 (1920, Dec. 2), retrieved from http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll43/id/5675/rec/60
*Jang Tae Han. (2014 April 24),
920, 대한민국 하늘을 열다-39비행학교/비행대 창설 (12)1920년 7월5일 공식 개교. ''Korea Daily'' http://www.koreadaily.com/news/read.asp?art_id=2493910
*Korean Ministry of Patriots & Veterans Affairs. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mpva.go.kr/narasarang/gonghun_view.asp?id=14820&ipp=50
{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Yi-kyun
1885 births
1927 deaths
Korean emigrants to the United States
People from Pyongyang