Newsletter

It was 5 p.m. on September 2, 1919. The square in front of the Namdaemun Station, the present-day Seoul Station square, was crowded with people who had been brought in to welcome Saito Makoto, the third Governor-General coming to Japan's colony of Korea. The mission of this new Governor-General, appointed after the March 1st Movement was suppressed, was to tighten the grip of colonial rule over Korea in the name of so-called 'cultural rule.'

When Saito and his company, having arrived at the Namdaemun Station, were about to get on a carriage after the welcoming ceremony, there was an instant mayhem as a man in the crowd suddenly produced a grenade from his jacket and threw it at Saito, only to miss him. This incident made the daily headlines, and an extensive search to find the man was launched. When the man was finally captured on September 17, it was to everyone's surprise that he was an old man of sixty-five.

The patriotic man's name was Walwoo (曰愚) Kang Woo-kyu. He was born in 1855 as the youngest son of a poor farmer in Deokcheon, South Pyeongan Province. He made a fortune with the skills related to Chinese classics and Chinese medicine that he acquired at an early age. As a young man, he embraced the enlightenment thought and became a Christian. Afterwards, he left home to establish schools and embark on a movement to enlighten his people. When Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910, he fled to Manchuria, where he sought to start an independence movement. He was already over fifty years old by then, but his age didn't matter to him at all.

In Jilin Province in northern Manchuria, Mr. Kang built schools and churches to teach and inspire youths, instilling brotherly love and national consciousness in them. At the same time, he served as a hub connecting to independence movement camps scattered across Vladivostok and Manchuria. After the March 1st Movement of 1919, he went over to Vladivostok himself and joined the Confederation of Old Korean Men. But once he realized that Japan's cultural rule was nothing but a means of tightening the grip of colonial rule, he decided that assassinating the newly appointed Japanese Governor-General would be the fastest way for the Korean people to gain independence.

Of course, his attempt to assassinate Governor-General Saito failed, but only in the sense the target was not killed. His act was as good as success in that it demonstrated the Korean people's strong desire and determination to gain independence, and inspired many guerilla groups and underground organizations to be established later.

Mr. Kang was sentenced to death in May 1920, and executed in Seodaemun Prison on November 29. He is said to have kept his spirits high the whole time from the moment he was arrested to his trial and execution.

He said: "Don't despair or anything about my death,
for I am the one who should feel the shame that there is nothing I have done to serve my country all my life.
What I constantly think about, even in my sleep, is education for youths.
If my death could have what little impact on their hearts, that's what I wish for."

In the Seoul Station square stands a statue of Mr. Kang with a grenade in hand. Perhaps he is teaching us through his example that age doesn't matter in defending one's country and achieving what one sets out to do.

Source of Reference: Ministry of Patriots & Veterans Affairs – The Independence Activist of the Month Kang Woo-kyu
http://cafe.naver.com/bohunstar/1411
The Independence Hall of Korea "Sites of Independence Movement in Seoul" - Namdaemun Station Square - The Site of Kang Woo-kyu's Patriotic Act
http://sajeok.i815.or.kr/ebook/ebookh01/book.html