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The love between Korean independence fighter and Chinese woman

The love between Korean independence fighter and Chinese woman

Posted August. 15, 2016 07:16,   

Updated August. 15, 2016 07:23

한국어

“You are too happy. You have changed after you got married,” Kim San said to his comrade who was seven years older than him in the “Song of Ariran,” a book of reportage by American author Nym Wales. The book is about the life of Kim San, a Korean who fought for his country’s independence against Japan. Though the way he speaks sounds awkward possibly due to the translation of an English text, he seems to express his disappointment on his comrade who once fought for their country’s independence together but changed after falling in love with a woman. The comrade said, “Yes, you’re right. Indeed, love changes people a lot.”

The man, who left the frontline of the anti-Japanese movement for a while for love, is Kim Sung-sook whose pen name is Unam. Later, he served as a cabinet member of the Korean interim government. His Buddhist name is Taeheo. At 25, he went to Beijing as a Buddhist student in 1923 and joined a group of Korean independence fighters called Euiyeoldan to fight against Japan. He developed friendship with Kim San as his teacher and comrade, while studying social science at Zhongshan University in Guangdong Province, China.

Unam fell in love with Du Jinhui, the first female student at Zhongshan University. Though he had a wife with a son and a daughter, the Chinese student was his first love. It made even Kim San jealous as he felt as if he lost his closest comrade. Du went to Japan for studying due to her family’s opposition, but returned to Unam only in three months. He hid in her house during the Guangdong uprising in 1927 and eventually got married to her in 1929. He had three sons with her while enjoying once-in-a-lifetime peaceful moments.

Du stepped up to help her husband’s propaganda against Japan and also served as an agent of the Foreign Ministry of the Korean interim government. She appealed for donation for Korean independence fighters, calling herself as the “daughter of Joseon (Korea)” and thought Korean women as her folk. Du will be awarded with the Order of National Pride for National Foundation in the 71st anniversary of Korea’s independence this year. It is the first case for a married couple to receive the Order of Merit for National Foundation together. Unam received the Order of Independence for National Foundation in 1982. It is worth reflecting on the past when Korea and China fought together against Japan like Unam and Du at a time when the two countries are at odds due to the deployment of THAAD in South Korea.