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Kim Chang-sook, a true scholar and warrior

Posted March. 29, 2019 07:45,   

Updated March. 29, 2019 07:45

한국어

There is a person whose handwriting is exactly the same when he was a teenager and an old man in his 70s. His name is Kim Chang-sook, an activist for the Korean independence under Japanese colonial rule who became crippled by the Japanese cruel torture and years of imprisonment. He was known as a true scholar, and a man of integrity who refused to compromise with reality and followed a great cause. He was sentenced to 14 years of prison for leading Na Seok-ju’s bombing of the Oriental Development Company. He led the impeachment of President Rhee Syng-man and released a text warning the president to step down after Korea’s liberation from Japan, sharply criticizing Rhee’s misrule and dictatorship. He dedicated his life of 84 years to the independence of his country, the establishment of a unified Korea and democratization.

His strong angles that tilt upward show that he is strong willed. As a child, he was known to be a stubborn boy that refused to lose with few friends. He is known to have said “Those who do not condemn traitors are traitors as well,” and “It is a disgrace to beg for life as a prisoner. I will never compromise on my principles and have someone advocate me in court”, which shows what a determined person he was.

His small, squared handwriting suggest a righteous, rational and upright personality. When the Japan- Korea Treaty of 1905 was signed, he protested in front of the palace demanding that the five traitors who lead the signing to be killed. When his plan failed, he joined the National Debt Payment Movement, National Empowerment Movement and planned for the National Independence Petition sent to the Paris Peace Conference. His organized and regular handwriting suggests that he is a man who kept his word. He spent the latter years of his life without a home, staying at motels or relatives’ homes, and passed away on a bed of illness, but the great man was and will never be lonely.