Yoo Gwan-soon Revived in New Portrait

On February 28, a ceremony was held to enshrine Yoo Gwan-soon’s new standard portrait into a commemorative tower in Byeongcheon-myeon, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.

The enshrinement commenced with a national ceremony at 5:00 p.m., followed by a report, a commemorative speech, a congratulatory speech, the official unveiling, a floral tribute, burning incense, and the singing of a song for Yoo.

The new seated portrait of Yoo, 120cm wide and 200cm long, was designated as standard portrait No. 78 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s Standard Portrait Review Committee.

While the previous portrait was painted based on a photo taken during Yoo’s imprisonment and torture at the Seodaemun Prison, the new portrait restored her image as an innocent and patriotic girl, determined to continue her fight against Japanese colonial rule.

In the new portrait, Yoo is seated, holding the national flag between her knees at the Ewha School’s Assembly Hall, before the commencement of the March 1st Movement. Her costume were re-presented based on historical research.

The national flag, officially recognized as standard in October of 1949, was used in the portrait because the flag used by Yoo at the time had been lost.

Chungnam National University professor Yoon Yeo-hwan, who painted the new portrait, said, “At first, I drew the national flag based on the wooden plate used to print flags for the March 1st Movement, but switched to the standard flag as there is no evidence that the national flag was used by her.”

The previous portrait, painted by Woljeon Jang Woo-seong in 1986, will be kept and displayed at the Cheonan Museum of Art, due to open this year.