This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Choi Jae-hyeong, who was elected the first finance minister of the Republic of Korea Provisional Government in Shanghai on April 11, 1919. What happened while Choi, born as a child of a slave during the reign of Cheoljong in the Joseon period, became the "minister" of the Republic of Korea?
Few Koreans are unaware of the "patriot Ahn Jung-geun" who assassinated Ito Hirobumi, but there are few who recall Choi Jae-hyeong, an independence activist who supported him. Recently, some determined people have taken note of "Pechka" Choi Jae-hyeong and begun restoring his lifetime as a whole.
Choi Jae-hyeong was born as a son of Choi Heung-baek in Gyeongwon of Hamgyeongbuk-do Province, on August 15, 1860. Choi Heung-baek was a slave, and his wife was a gisaeng. Choi Jae-hyeong's life began at the bottom of the Joseon Kingdom. In 1869 when he was nine years old, famine was a daily routine in and around Hamgyeong-do due to natural disasters. His family left their homes behind and migrated to Dixinxu in the Posyet area of Primorsky Krai, the land of hope. The people of Hamgyeong-do began to migrate to this area in 1864 and levelled the ground, but they had no other choice but to live in poverty. The same went for Choi Jae-hyeong's family. The difference from other families was that Choi Jae-hyeong was able to receive an education there. As Russian Orthodox churches were established in Dixinxu and Yanchihe in 1872, educational institutions were founded there are well. Choi's parents sent him to a Russian educational institution for their son's future. He was the first to enter the Russian school. His parents' insight became the background for Choi's later national movement.
Upon entering school, Choi learned Russian literature and language, but due to family circumstances ran away from home to become a sailor. Choi Jae-hyeong, a minor laborer of a Posyet merchant ship, worked as a sailor for seven years, aided by the skipper. For him, the sailor's life was a vehicle to become familiar with worldly affairs and to encounter new cultures and the light of salvation that allowed him to cross the border frequently.
Having completed his sailor's life in 1877, he began working as an interpreter for the Russian military the following year. He also gained great trust in Primorsky Krai by interpreting for the Russian military and law enforcement authorities.
Korean laborers were mobilized as military roads were built in Primorsky Krai in 1884. Choi Jae-hyeong worked as interpreter in the construction site. Whenever disputes arose between Russian soldiers and Korean laborers in the course of construction, he resolved them amicably and represented the interests of Korean laborers. After the four-year construction work was completed successfully, the Russian government bestowed Choi Jae-hyeong with a silver medal, lauding the successful road construction. Confidence in him within the Korean society grew even greater.
The Russian authorities felt the need to craft a new administrative system in 1895 with the expansion of the Korean village in Yanchihe. Russia established counties as a new administrative unit and appointed Choi to be in charge of Yanchihe Namdoso to have him perform the role of doheon (county head) for 13 years. He built churches and schools with great interest in educating the Koreans there. To help expand economic power for Koreans, he pushed for a livestock husbandry movement. Choi quit working as interpreter in the late 1890s and began showing his true self in earnest as a wealthy individual.
He jumped into the distribution and construction businesses fully, utilizing the port of Posyet. Choi made quick money thanks to the Boxer Rebellion and the Russo-Japanese War, which are regarded as important in the modern history of China and Korea.
Choi Jae-hyung's old mansion in the Ususlisk region of Russia was opened as
'Choi Jae-hyung Memorial Hall' on the 100th anniversary of the March First Independence Movement of 1919'.
(Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs)
Although he became wealthy through the Russo-Japanese War, Choi Jae-hyeong's eyes were opened regarding the restoration of national sovereignty by meeting with Yi Beom-yun, who sought asylum in Primorsky Krai, observing the situation in which his homeland had been under Japan's rule. He also planned precise, long-term righteous army activities in cooperation with Yi Beom-jin, the then minister to Russia. Choi counted greatly on Yi Beom-jin, who had taken up public posts and stood in the vanguard of arming soldiers of the righteous army by purchasing the latest weapons cheaply from Russian runaway troops. In April of 1908, Donguihoe, an independence movement organization, was founded at Choi Jae-hyeong's home. He donated as much as 13,000 rubles as the Donguihoe war chest. Then, in July of 1908, under the command of Ahn Jung-geun and Eom In-seop, he joined forces with members of Changuihoe led by Yi Beom-yun and attacked Honguidong near Sinasan Mountain along the Tumen River. Afterward, Choi conducted advance operations in Korea several times.
Choi Jae-hyeong was a true sponsor who enabled Ahn Jung-geun's patriotic deed. Ahn Jung-geun received support from Choi Jae-hyeong as a member of Donguihoe. Choi gave a certain amount of funds when Ahn Jung-geun left Yanchihe for Harbin, and praised Ahn's heroic deed by sending 400 rubles to Daedonggongbosa after hearing the news.
Choi Jae-hyeong tried to arouse national consciousness through newspapers by publishing the first issue of Daedonggongbo. After the Gyeongsul National Disgrace in 1910, Koreans in Primorsky Krai established Gwoneophoe to advocate the interests of compatriots and to seek national unity. Choi, who had led Gwoneophoe, became an object of surveillance by the Japanese Empire.
In January 1918 after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the Koryo Central Assembly was held in Primorsky Krai for the self-rule of Koreans. A decision was made to send Choi Jae-hyeong to the Siberian independence government as a Korean representative; he was elected co-chairman of the Korean Conference in Russia, held in June the same year, along with Yi Dong-hwi.
The independence declaration in Primorsky Krai in 1919 began on March 17. Its excitement spread to nearly all areas of Primorsky Krai. At its heart was Choi Jae-hyeong. His status was exercised fully in the Republic of Korea Provisional Government formed in Shanghai on April 11, 1919, and he was elected the first finance minister. Of course, he was unable to go to Shanghai, but one can infer that he enjoyed confidence as a wealthy man and national leader.
After Japan's invasion in 1918, Choi resided in Ussuriysk, concealing his whereabouts; he was arrested by Japan's military police on April 5, 1920, and shot to death. His death for the country made headlines in domestic newspapers. The family of Choi Jae-hyeong, who fiercely headed the independence movement, was deported to Central Asia in 1937. His great life journey was sublimated into the form of a leader of the democratic republic from a slave. Remembering and recalling Choi Jae-hyeong, who left his hometown during childhood and grew up in foreign countries, is the reverence that his descendants are sure to give in honoring the 100th anniversary of his death.
