Crossing Mount Bainang

Note the rugged terrain. Later, Kim Il Sung's family moved to the Chinese town of Lim-gang (Linjiang)

across Yalu.

Crossing Mount Bainang was hard on Mother. She carried my 3-year old brother Chul Ju on her back

and a bundle on her head. Her shoes wore out and her feet were a mess of bleeding blisters. Joong-gang

was a letdown for me. It was teaming with Japanese, not much different from the Hwang-gum or

Sehmun regions of Pyongyang. While we Koreans were forced to leave our home villages and wandered

around in alien places, why do these Japanese follow us even to the most remote boondocks and lord

over us? •Father told me that everywhere Koreans are, Japanese are there, too. I saw that Joong-gang

had a Japanese police station, a jail and a military police station. Joong-gang made me realize that all of

Korea was a gigantic dungeon.

More than half of Joong-gang was occupied by the Japanese immigrants and there was Japanese school,

a Japanese hospital and Japanese shops. I learned from Jung-gang residents that the Japanese occupation

began some ten years ago. Japan took over the rights to our timber in Ulsa Agreement and set up a timber

processing plant at Sinyiju and a branch at Joong-gang and brought Japanese woodcutters to settle in

Joong-gang. Among the woodcutters were many battle-hardened Japanese army veterans and they were

in fact paramilitary units ready to do battle at any time. In addition, there were a number of armed

Japanese police and regular army troops.

The main reason why Father moved us there was because Joong-gang was a hub of Korean nationalist

movement. He wanted to set up a hospital there and promote anti-Japan activities. He believed that being

a medical doctor, he would be less subject to Japanese surveillance and would have more degree of

freedom to move around; also, being a doctor would make it easier for him to see people.

We moved in Kang Ki Rak's lodging house. Kang gave us the cleanest and quietest room he had. After

getting out of prison, Father traveled in Kan-do and stayed in the this very room whenever he came to

Joong-gang. Kang Ki Rak ran the lodging "Yuh In Hotel" and also, a dental clinic and a photo shop. He

was a liaison for the Korean People's Association. Father operated from Kang's hotel room and

maintained contacts with Korean nationalists in Lim-gang, Jang-baik, Joong-gang, Byuk-dong, Chang-

sung. Chosan and other towns in the Yalu region.

Kang Ki Rak was well known in Joong-gang and visited the town hall at will. He passed on whatever

intelligence he gathered from the unsuspecting town officials to Father, which was invaluable to Father's

work. I worked for Father as a lookout and took care of the nationalists who came to see Father. I also

carried secret messages to Joong-sang and Joong-duk for Father.

One of the most memorable events in Joong-gang that I recall is the wrestling match I had with a

Japanese fellow. He was much bigger than I was but I won the match by doing a belly-throw on him. I

was called in to go after any Japanese kid that hassled Korean kids, which made the lodging proprietors

fear for Japanese reprisal. Father told him that we should never kowtow to anyone who look down upon

us, and he blessed my actions.   PAGE 40

Stateless Vagabonds in Foreign Places

Father changed his operations base often and so, my family moved several times when I was young. The

first move was when I was five. In the Summer, we moved to Bongwha-ri, leaving behind Grandpa,

Grandma and other close relatives. Because of my tender age, I felt no sad feeling parting with them. I

was too excited about our new home.

But our move to Jung-gang in the Fall was entirely a different matter. It was a sad move. Our relatives

were sad that we were moving so far, to the northern tip of the country. Grandpa, who normally stood

behind Father and supported his decisions, was aghast at Father's decision to move us away more than a

thousand ri. Father saw what was going through Grandpa's mind and did his best to calm him down.

Father sat next to Grandpa and helped with his handcraft work for the last time and said: "Dad, I am on

the blacklist of the Japanese police and I cannot do anything in Korea. They told me to stay home and

work the farm when I was released from prison. I will go on fighting, even if they jailed me ten times

more. Japanese are savages and merely shouting for independence will not bring it."

Uncle hugged Father and told him to write often, if he moved far away, too far to come home; he begged

Father never to forget the home and wept openly. Father held onto Uncle's hands for a long time. Father

consoled Uncle: "Hey, I will never forget our home. How on earth can I forget our home? We are forced

to part because of the bad times we are having, we shall meet again when Korea is freed and live happily

together again. Since our childhood, you have been cleaning up the mess I created and now I am leaving

and you have to be the man of the family now. I am very sorry."

"Dear elder brother, don't talk like that! I will care for Mom and Dad and you don't worry about them.

You keep your mind on your work and make sure you succeed. I will be here waiting for your success."

I was moved by their tearful farewell and wept with them. Although Mother told me that we would be

back home when Korea became independent, I wondered when that will be. I had no clear idea. In fact,

Father and Mother passed away in foreign places and this was their last moment with the family.

I kept on looking back toward our old home; I did not want to leave Grandpa and Grandma behind. I did

not want to leave the home, the mountains and rivers I grew up in, but I was happy that we were moving

far, far away from that prison in Pyongyang. Even after Father was released from prison, I was uneasy

about that prison. I feared that Father might get arrested and jailed there again. I was so naive that

moving to a remote village, away from Seoul and Pyongyang, we could find a safe haven from the

Japanese savages.

I asked how far Joong-gang was from Pyongyang and was told that it was one thousand ri. This sounded

like a safe distance because I thought no Japanese would come that far to get Father. It was said that

Joong-gang is the coldest place in Korea, but I did not mind as long as Father was safe theRE..PAGE 37

Father's belief in communist movement

hope in communism in light of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. The March First fiasco convinced him

that we must change our nationalist movement into communist revolution. Father argued for toilers'

revolution at the Chung-su Conference in July 1919. He convened a conference of the Korean People's

Association cadres, liaison officers and leaders of other nationalist organization in August at Hongtong-

gu, China. At the conference, Father expounded his belief in transforming our nationalist movement into

communist movement. He emphasized that the movement must defeat the Japanese imperialists by our

own power, adapting to the prevailing world situations and work to build a society that protect the

proletariat.

Formulating concrete steps to go from nationalist movement to communist movement was one of my

father's achievements in our struggle for independence. Father explained his idea of proletarian

revolution is to build a new society wherein those without food are given rice and those with nothing to

wear are given clothes. He awakened workers, peasants and other toilers by setting examples; he united

various organizations and groups into a united front and nurtured it into a powerful organ of revolution..

Father advocated that petitions and diplomacy would not bring us freedom and we must rely on military

forces to gain freedom. He began to organize new military organizations. Father wanted to train

nationalistic youth from farming families on military tactics and leadership and to indoctrinate the

existing military leaders and junior officers. They would form the core of a new army of workers and

peasants. Father dispatched members of the Korean People's Association to various military organization

to spread his new military doctrine; he directed arms procurements and education of military officers.

Father endeavored to unite military groups. At the time, there were many groups competing to expand

and this was the most agonizing defect of our independence movement to my father. In Kan-do and

Siberia, there were a host of armed Korean camps. Almost every day, a new "Korean Society", "Korean

Freedom Corps", "Korea Corp" and so on popped up. There were at least 20 of such armed groups in

southern Manchuria alone. They might have achieved something significant, if they got together and

coordinated their actions. But the fact of the matter is that they betrayed each other and vied for

dominance.

Father feared that this sad situation, if continued, would alienate the Korean people and help Japanese

wipe out the camps. Father learned that Korean Independence Youth Corp and Kwangje Youth Corp

were at each other's throat; he rushed to Kwangje and called on the leaders to bury the hatchet and work

together for common cause. Thanks to Father, Hong-up Corps, Gung-bi Corps and other armed groups

in the Yenan-Yalu region merged into a united national army.

Transforming extant armed groups into a people's army of workers and peasants and embarking on the

road of communist revolution was one of Father's agenda. This new direction would help unite the armed

groups and minimize contentious rifts amongst them. Father worked tirelessly to redirect our military

activities until the day he died. He was struck down with an incurable disease. After Father's

announcement of the new direction at the Kwanjun Conference, ideological splits among the nationalists

intensified. Even among those who had supported Father's plan when he was alive deserted after his

death. Some of them were captured by the Japanese, some became turncoats, and others scattered away.

Few took up the banner of revolution when Father fell. The conservatives in the nationalist camp built walls around them and kept to their old ways; but many progressive leaders chose the new way and later

joined in our communist revolution.

Father's belief in communist movement provided much needed nourishments for my growth

writing

of a brush and ink, made in China. Father wanted me to become proficient in writing. I immediately put

the set in use, I ground out some ink in water, dipped the brush in it and wrote out three large letters -

"Ah Buh Ji" (father). That night, the family gathered around a dim kerosene lamp and read Father's letter

over and over again. Uncle Hyong Rok read it three times. He was normally restless and vibrant, but he

was slow and deliberate like an old man while reading the letter. Mother quickly glanced over the letter

and handed it me, asking me to read it aloud for Grandpa and Grandma. Even though I had not started

my formal schooling, Father had taught me how to read.

Gen. Hong Bom Do and aids in Siberia.

Sooner I had started to read the letter loud and clear than Grandma stopped her spinning and asked -

"Does it say when he would be back?" and before I could answer, she muttered to herself - "Is he in

Siberia or is he in Manchuria? He has been gone unusually long". Seeing that Mother did not get to read

the letter in detail, I recited the letter from memory for her after we went to bed. Mother would never

read Father's letter in front of Grandma and Grandpa, instead she would tuck the letter under her sleeve

and read it alone during rest breaks from her daily farm chores. Mother said - "Ok, that's good enough.

Now you better go to sleep" - and rubbed my forehead.

It was not until the Fall of that year when Father returned home to take us with him. He had been gone

for a year. During his absence from home, Father was busy rebuilding the Korean People's Association;

he traveled to Yiju, Chang-sung, Byukdong, Chosan, Junggang and other towns in North Pyongahn

Province and Manchuria. Father convened Chungsu-dong Conference in November 1918.

Representatives of the Association in the province and liaison agents from various sites met there to

discuss future actions to rebuild the Association and organize the poor working massFather talked about events in Manchuria and Russia. He was quite enthused about about Lenin and the

October Revolution. He said that in Russia, workers, peasants and other toiling people were in charge; he

was envious of that. He was angry at the White reactionaries and the 14 nations that had sent intervention

troops to Russia to topple the new government of Russia. Since what he said was true and factual, I

believe Father had been to Siberia. Like Manchuria, Siberia was a base for national movements and an

important gathering place. Several hundred thousands of Koreans were resident in Siberia at the time of

the March First Movement.

Many patriots and nationalist leaders fled there. Lee Jun's secret mission stopped in Siberia on their way

to Hague. Yu In Sik and Lee Sang Sul established the "13-Province Righteous Army" headquarters in

Vladivostok It was in Vladivostok that Korean progressives under Yi Dong Whi founded the first

Korean socialist organization and began to propagate Marxism-Leninism. The Korean People's Assembly

in Russia established the Korean Provisional Government in Far East Russia. Hong Bom Do and Ahn

Jung Gun had military units in active operation in that region.

The Korean exiles in Siberia formed numerous independent groups for Korean independence. Korean

nationalists in Russia crossed the Russo-Korean border and attacked Gyongwon, Gyonghum and other

Korean towns under Japanese rule. They fought Japanese police and military and inflicted heavy

casualties. Korean nationalist troops from Manchuria and Russia worked hand in hand with the Soviet

Army and fought the enemies of the Soviet Union. The imperialists attempted to topple the new Soviet

government and poured in billions of dollars and tens of thousands of their troops in Russia. They armed

Russian reactionaries. Several thousands Korean nationalists rushed to the aid of the struggling Soviets.

Many fought as partisans and many joined the Red Army. Monuments in Siberia honor those Koreans

who died for socialism.

Hong Bom Do, Yi Dong Whi , Yuh Woon Hyong and other nationalist leaders conducted intense

military campaigns for Korean independence from military bases in Russia. They met Lenin and

discussed Korean independence. Their fight for Korea had ended in a sour note at Free City;

factionalism, foreign intervention and egoism culminated in the shameful fratricidal self-destruction in

the Free City Incident (also known as the Amur River Incident - see Chapter 9, Section 4 for more on this

incident). Nevertheless, their contributions to Korean independence should not be ignored..PAGE 32-33

Nationalist leaders being crucified...

. Even the lowly women servants and entertainment maidens (kisaeng), the bottom echelon in the

feudal society, formed their own formation and joined the march.

For over a month or two, the Korean peninsula resonated with shouts for independence. Spring passed

and Summer came, and the ardor of the uprising gradually subsided. Many Koreans mistakenly assumed

that the Japanese would get out, if they marched for several months shouting slogans. They were sadly

mistaken; the Japanese were not about to leave Korea on account of mere marches. Japan fought three

major wars over Korea.

About 400 years ago in 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent Gonishi Yukinaga to conquer Korea with several

hundreds thousand troops. The Japanese conducted scorched-earth campaigns and torched Korea from

Pusan to Pyongyang to Hamhung. In the 19th century, after the Meiji Reform, the Japanese formulated a

plan to take Korea by force. It was asserted that Korea was essential for the Empire to expand. Some

Japanese were opposed to this plan of naked aggression and a quiet civil war broke out in Japan that

lasted for half a year. The war faction was led by Saiko Takamori, whose stature still stands in today's

Japan. Japan fought war with Russia and China over Korea. America and Great Britain supported Japan

in these two wars.

Nationalist leaders being crucified.

The bestiality of the Japanese troops was fully exposed in the Russo-Japanese War. Maresuke Nogi

commanded Japanese Third Army in the Port Arthur battle. He had dead corps filed high and used them

as stepping stones to attack the "203 Meter Hill" (

Lee Wha Rang note: the Hill fell on December 5, 1904.

The Russian general Anatoly Mikhailovich Stësel surrendered on January 2, 1905.)

. Some 25,000 were

killed for Nogi's human ladders. The Japanese suffered heavy losses and won the war, but they failed to

take Manchuria or Siberia. Angry war widows and orphans of the soldiers who died for Nogi gathered to

confront him. But the crowd fell silent when they saw that Nogi wore three crosses, one for each of his

own sons killed in the war. I do not know how accurate this story is, but the point is that the Japanese

had paid for Krea dearly and they were not ready to cough up Korea.(PAGE 29

marching for independence

I was only eight years old at the time, but I joined in the march wearing my worn-out shoes full of holes.

I shouted and shouted with the marchers and reached Botong Gate. The marchers rushed inside the castle

past the Gate; I could not keep up with them in my tattered shoes and so I took them off and ran after the

marchers as fast as my little legs could move. The enemy mobilized mounted police and army troops to

stop our march, They slashed and shot the marchers indiscriminately. Many of the marchers fell spilling

blood. But the marchers marched on and fought the enemy with bare hands.

For the first time in my life, I witnessed people killing people, Korean blood staining our own land. My

young mind and body was enraged. After the sunset, the villagers from Mangyon-dae went to Mangyong

Peak and held a rally at the summit. Torches were lit and bugles blared. We beat drums and metal pans,

making enough noise to wake up the dead. We shouted hurrah for our independence. This continued on

for several days. Mother and her sister took me along when they joined the crowd at the summit. Mother

was busy carrying drinking water and burning oil for the torches to the protesters at the summit.

The marchers in Seoul were joined by the people who were in Seoul to attend King Kojong's funeral.

Several hundreds of thousands of people joined the march. Hasegawa, Governor General of Korea,

ordered the 20th Infantry Division garrisoned at Yongsan to squash the movement. The Japanese

soldiers attacked unarmed marchers with swords and rifles, turning Seoul into a sea of Korean blood.

But the marchers stayed their course; when the vanguards fell, the next in line took the lead. The

marchers pushed on stepping over their fallen comrades. People marched in all major towns and cities in

Korea on that day.

Photo: Young school girls marching for independence.

Young school girls marched holding up Taeguk-gi. When their hand holding up the flag was cut off by

the Japanese, they picked up the flag with the other hand. When both hands were cut off, they marched

on until they dropped, shouting "Long Live Korea!" Even the most hardened Japanese savages were

afraid of such determined opponents. The mass uprising in Seoul and Pyongyang soon spread to all of

the thirteen provinces of Korea by the middle of March. It had spilled over to Manchuria, Shanghai,

Siberia, Hawaii and other foreign places. The uprising was a true pan-national movement, of all Koreans,

all overseas Koreans, irrespective of their gender, age, religion and vocation. Every one was welcome to 

join (PAGE 28)

Long Live Korean Independence! 1

Long Live Korean Independence!

It was freezing cold on the day when Father left home. I waited and waited for his safe return home all

during the Spring months. Our family did not have enough food to eat, not enough clothing to wear and

not enough heat to keep warm. Winter was a cruel enemy to my shivering family.

Grandma worried that, with the spring thaw, my birthday would come upon her. On my birthday in the

spring, flowers broke out everywhere and Father would be less cold in the north somewhere, but

celebrating my birthday without Father and at a time when our food stock would be at the rock bottom.

Even though my family's food supply ran out late in the Spring, Grandma managed to come out with

bowls of white rice and a cooked chicken egg on my birthday - until that year. Even a single egg was a

major food item in our household, as our daily menu was mainly bowls of thin gruel at best. Celebrating

my birthday was the farthest thing on my mind in that Spring. I was still in shock from my father's arrest

and I was worried sick about my father's being away for so long.

Not long after my father's departure, the March First Movement erupted on March 1, 1919. All the pent

up angers and sorrows of living under the Japanese imperialists for ten long years exploded on that day.

In ten years after the annexation, Korea had become a gigantic dungeon, no better than those of the

Middle Ages. The Japanese colonists used naked military power to suppress the Korean people's

aspiration to become free again. The Japanese took way our freedom of press, freedom to hold meetings,

freedom to form organizations, and freedom to march. They took away our human rights and properties.

The Korean people formed secret organizations, independence fights, mass enlightenment activities, and

had built up considerable potential energy against the decade of plunder and exploitation by the Japanese.

Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists and other religious leaders, patriotic teachers and students had planned

and executed the March First Movement. The Kapsin Reform, Kaboh Peasants War, Patriotic Mass

Enlightenment and Righteous Army ensued one after another, and our nationalistic feelings were

sublimated and ripe for kinetic explosion, like a volcano letting out the pressure built up over the

years. Thus, at noon, March 1st in Pyongyang, church bells rang out in unison to signal the start of the

march. Several thousands students and citizens gathered at the front yard of Sung-duk Girls School

located at Jang-dae-jae. Declaration of Independence was read aloud and it was solemnly proclaimed that

Korea was a free nation. The crowd began the march shouting "Long Live Korean Independence", "Out

with the Japanese and their army". They were joined by tens of thousands of citizens.

The villagers of Mangyong-dae lined up in a file and marched into Pyongyang and joined the crowd of

marchers already there. We got up early on that day and ate our breakfast; all of us joined the march.

When we left the village, there were only a few hundred of us, but by the time we reached Pyongyang,

our rank swelled to several thousands. We beat on drums and gongs and marched toward Botong Gate,

shouting "Long Live Korean Independence!" at the top of our lungs. 

ESKAPE

Grandpa rushed to Father and tried to make him lie down on the ox-cart, but Father refused and insisted

on walking. Father said: "How can I be seen lying down on an ox-cart while I am still alive. I don't want

the Japanese to see me like that". Father walked all the way home on his own.

Upon returning home, he told his brothers (my uncles): "I struggled to stay alive while in prison. I ate

and drank whatever in order to stay healthy and gain strength. The Japanese are the worst people in the

world and we cannot let them be. You Hyong Rok and Hyong Gwung must fight the Japanese. You must

fight blood for blood, death for death." I swore that I, too, would follow Father's wish and wage life and

death struggles against the Japanese demons.

Father read books even in his sickbed. Father stayed with a relative, Kim Sung Hyon, well-known for

curing eye diseases. Father got interested in medicine and began reading medical texts while in prison.

Father learned medical skills from Kim Sung Hyon. Apparently, Father had decided to become a

medical doctor while in prison. He believed that he could be more effective being a medical doctor than a

school teacher.

Father would not stay in bed waiting for his broken body to heal. He dragged his aching body out of bed

and walked to various towns in North Pyongahn Province and tried to rebuilt the networks for the Korean

People's Association. Grandpa encouraged Father to stay the course and carry on. Before leaving home,

Father wrote a poem titled - "The Green Pine Trees of Namsan": "Even if our body is broken into dusts,

we will go on fighting generation after generation, without rest, until our three thousand ri land of green

mountains and shining rivers is free and a new Spring comes here". It was Father's solemn pledge to

fight on ..PAGE 26

HIDE IN DARK ROOM

We were led into a damp. dark room, filled with

suffocating stench and stagnant air. There I saw

Father smiling in the room. He was glad to see

me and thanked Mom for bringing me along. I

had some difficulty recognizing Father in prison

garb and noticed that every part of his body

visible - face, neck, hands and feet - was swollen

and bruised. But Father was more concerned

about his family than his broken body. Father

said: "Yes, you have grown quite a bit since I saw

you last. Pay attention to your elders and study

hard, you hear?" Father talked calmly as if the

prison guard watching us did not exist. Hearing

his voice made me to break into loud sobs and I

cried loudly - "Father, please come back home

with us". Father was happy to hear my voice and nodded his head smiling. Father told Mother to take

good care of brush and comb salesmen who might drop in. He was referring to the Association members

and nationalists who may need help.

(Photo: Pyongyang Prison)

.

Father's unyielding spirit even in prison etched indelible marks in me. Another unforgettable thing about

that visit was running into Lee Kwang Rin, who was a member of the Association. She attended

Pyongyang Girls Vocational School of Mechanical Engineering. Fortunately, the Japanese police had

nothing on her. Lee and another Association member came to see Father on that day. In those days of

strong feudal habits, young unmarried women visiting a prison was a taboo. If a young woman of marital

age got caught frequenting a prison, she might as well kiss away any idea of finding a suitable husband.

No man from a decent family would marry such a woman. Nevertheless, Lee, a modern progressive

woman, extremely rare in those days, came to see Father in prison and the guards gawked at her and

followed her every move. Lee's shining face cheerfully consoled Father and Mother.

Visiting Father in prison was one of the most significant events in my life. I understood why Mother

chose to take me to the prison. Scars and wounds on Father's body pained me physically and I swore to

get even with the Japanese devils, that were not human beings at all, but Satan. Father's wounds taught

me about the Japanese imperialists far more than any number of political scientists or historians could

have possibly taught me. Until that time, I had not witnessed police brutality, except those instances of

the police on headcount and health investigation; once, a Japanese policeman got angry at us for some

reason and cut up a door and smashed it onto a cooking pot, breaking its lid. This was nothing compared

to torturing and maiming innocent people. I have never forgotten Father's broken body in prison. That

image was always with me even during moments of heated combats.

Father completed his term in 1918 and came home. Grandpa and Uncle went to the prison to bring Father

home in an ox-cart. Our neighbors gathered in Songsan-ri to welcome him back. Father could barely

walk because of the tortures he had received in prison. He managed to walk out the prison limping

PAGE 25 THE BOOK WITH THE CENTURY

burnt them

. She climbed to the roof, recovered the documents and burnt them in her cooking

fire.

In the morning after my father's arrest, the Christians of Bongwha-ri met at Myongsin School and prayed

for the immediate release of my father. People from Pyongyang and Kangdong rushed to the Pyongyang

police station and petitioned for my father's release. Grandpa heard of Father's impending court trial and

sent Uncle to the police station to find out what could be done to help Father. Grandpa was ready to sell

everything he owned to hire an attorney to defend Father in court. Father would not let Grandpa do such

a thing. Father told Uncle - "Attorneys use their mouth for living and so do I. Why would you waste

money, that you don't have, to hire an attorney?"

My father was tried three times in Pyongyang. At each court session, Father defended himself by saying -

"I am a Korean and I have the right to love Korea and work for Korea. I have committed no crime and

you have no authority to try me." After attempting three court trials, Father was convicted and sentenced

to a prison term.

Soon after my father's arrest, Uncle Hyong Rok wanted us to move back to Mangying-dae and came with

his brother-in-law, Kang Young Suk, to fetch us. Mother refused to move and told them that she wanted

to remain at Bonghwa through the winter. Mother wanted to maintain contact with the Association

members and other nationalists who might show up for messages. In the following spring, Mother

moved us back to Mangyong-dae. By that time, she had managed to cover the base for Father. Grandpa

and Mother's father came to get us with an ox-cart.

I was much depressed that Spring and Summer. Every time I asked Mother when Father would be back,

she would tell me that he would be back in a few days. But days went by with Father still gone. One day,

Mother took me to a play ground located at Mangyong Peak and got on a swing holding me on her lap.

She told me: "Sung Ju - Your dad is not coming back, even after the ice in Taedong River over there is

all melted gone. Your dad fought for Korea and he has committed no crime. You will have to grow up

fast and get even with your dad's enemies. You must become a hero and recover our lost nationhood." I

swore to her that I would follow her wish.

Mother had visited Father in prison secretly several times. She did not say a thing about her prison

visits. One day, Mother took me to her parents' house in Palgol on the premise of picking up some

cotton, but her real intent was to visit Father in prison with me. Mom's mother insisted that Mom should

not take me to the prison, because I was too young. Seeing Father caged up in a dark prison cell would

do much harm to my mindset, Grandma argued. I was seven at the time. But Mother persisted and

prevailed.

Upon crossing the wooden bridge over Botong River, I noticed prison right away. No one had told me

what a prison looked like, but I could tell it was the prison from its dark color and its stark, austere

surroundings. The prison was indeed awe and fear inspiring, just being there would send chills running

through any body. Its heavy iron gates, walls, watch towers, barbed wires and armed gourds in dark

uniforms and eyes indicated that it was a place of death and deadly venom.  (PAGE 25)

Association decided to establish an operational base for anti-Japan activities

. As is clear from this statement of its purpose, the

Association believed that Korean independence could not be achieved by external forces and so, it should

be accomplished by the Koreans themselves.

The Association decided to establish an operational base for anti-Japan activities at Gan-do and

dispatched an advance team to lay the groundwork. The Association was organized meticulously. It

chose and accepted members after lengthy investigation; only people with well established track records

were invited into the Association. Members were organized in independent cells and secret codes were

used for communications among the members. Secret documents were encrypted. The members got

together once a year on the occasion of Sungsil school anniversary. It ran several front organizations

such as Education Society, Stone Monument Society and Home Society. These legal open entities were

used to cover the secret activities of the Society. Liaison offices were set up in Beijing and Dandong for

external contacts.

The Association was established with full support of the people; its membership included workers,

farmers, teachers, students, military (independence armies), merchants, religionists, businessmen and

people from other socio-economic strata. The association's membership was not limited to people living

in Korea and reached Beijing, Shanghai, Jirin, Musong, Rimgang, Jangbaik, Yuha, Kwangjun, Dandong,

Hwajun and Hong Kong. My father recruited Jang Chul Ho, Kang Jeh Ha, Kang Jin Gun, Kim Si Woo

and many other key members into the Association and they played important roles in the organization

and expansion of the Association. Recruiting a member took a great deal of time and effort. Father would

travel even one thousand ri in order to recruit one single member.

One day. Oh Dong Jin dropped in unexpected to see my father. Oh was on his way to Hwanghae

Province. He was unusually quiet and had an air of tension. Oh said proudly that he found a good man

for my father -"Gong Young from Byokdong is still a green young buck, but he is highly intelligent, tall

and good-looking. He is trust-worthy and an martial art expert, too. In the olden days, he would have

made a good marshal." My father was pleased and thanked Oh for a fine job well done. From the ancient

times, it had been accepted that finding a talent was more important than the talent itself.

Upon Oh's departure, Father asked my eldest uncle to make him several pairs of straw sandals, and in the

next morning, Father left home with the sandals. Father was gone for about one month. He had

apparently walked long distances, for he wore out all of the sandals that Uncle made for him, but he

came home with smiles on his face. Father met Gong Young on his trip and he was very satisfied with

Gong. Father's way of caring for and nurturing his comrades was one of the most important lessons I

learned from him in my youth.

For several years, the Korean People's Association spread its gospel in Korea and abroad. Its membership

increased and its word got around. However, the Japanese got wind of it in the Fall of 1917 and started

to dismantle it ruthlessly. On a windy day, three Japanese policemen burst into my father's classroom at

Myonsin School and dragged him away right in front of his students. Mr. Huh followed my father to the

river ferry, where Father managed to whisper a message to Huh. Huh ran all the way to my house and

relayed Father's message and the news of his arrest. Father instructed Mother to burn documents hidde

in the roof of our house. She climbed to the roof, recovered the documents and burnt them in her cooking

fire.  

Father said

Father said that one of the main reasons why Kim Ok Gyun's reform failed was his reformists did not

trust the people's power, relying instead upon palace cliques. He said I should learn from Kim's error. I

assume that my father went to Shanghai from Kan-do to see for himself our much rumored independence

movements in China. He most likely wanted to coordinate his activities in Korea with those working

abroad. Anti-colonial wars of liberation had not reached any degree of maturity at the time and there was

no accumulated expertise on the subject.

When my father went to China, the Chinese revolution was fighting for its very survival. The Chinese

revolutionaries had to fight military factions and warlords as well as foreign intervention forces from

America, Great Britain and Japan. In spite of this state, many of our independence fighters were living

under the illusion that some foreign imperial power would come to their assistance. My father returned

home convinced that the Korean people must liberate themselves on their own, by themselves. After his

trip to China, Father began to work more feverishly, often skipping meals and sleeps, to educate more

youth and recruite more patriots. Our house was at Bongwha-ri at the time; my father taught school

children during the day and taught adults during the evening and went to bed at late hours.

Once I read an anti-Japan article written by my father at a school event. Father wrote many revolutionary

and anti-Japanese poems and essays for his students. Many independence fighters came to see my father

at Bongwha-ri and he went to see them at various location of Pyongahn and Hwanghae provinces. He

firmed up core cadres and laid foundation for mass movements. On March 23, 1917, my father together

with Jang Il Whan, Bai Min Su, Baik Seh Bin and other comrades formally established the Korean

People's Association at the home of Lee Bo Sik, located at Hak-dang-gol, Pyongyang. The charter

members wrote letters of their allegiance in their own blood - "Korean independence and fight to the

end."

The main theme of the Association was that the Korean people must unite and achieve independence on

their own, and develop Korea into a strong advanced nation. It was a secret organization, about the

largest of anti-Japan organizations in Korea around the time of the March First Movement. There were

hardly any secret organization in 1917 in Korea. Organizations such as the Righteous Army, the Korean

Independence Army and the Korea Restoration Society, which sprang up after the annexation, were gone

by this time. They could not withstand the savage attacks by the Japanese security forces, which were

quite effective in detecting and arresting anti-Japan activists. Consequently, few Koreans dared to even

ponder doing anti-Japanese work. Even those who had the courage to oppose Japan could do little in

Korea and some went abroad and formed secret organizations. Some people set up organizations,

sanctioned by the Governor General of Korea and did what they could legally under the Japanese rule.

The Korean People's Association came into being in this kind of vacuum in Korea. It was an anti-

imperialism organization. Its platform asserted that the US and Western powers would soon get into

conflict with Japan, already entrenched in Asia, over hegemony in Asia. This would be an opportune

moment for the Korean people to rise up and drive out the Japanese, and so, the Association members

 must work in unison and prepare for the moment. As is clear from this statement of its purpose, the

Association believed that Korean independence could not be achieved by external forces and so, it should

be accomplished by the Koreans themselves. (PAGE 21-22)