뉴스레터

Lucky Man

It is not easy to engage in the independence movement while earning a living in a foreign country. Yoo Ja-myeong (1894-1985) left a strong impression for the fact that he was able to support himself. In early June 2019, I had the chance to talk about independence activist Yoo Ja-myeong. At the time, I thought about visiting Yoo Ja-myeong's hometown, and finally, I hit the road with a friend on December 24, 2019.

The birthplace of Yoo Ja-myeong is recorded as “404-4, Yeongpyeong-ri, Daesowon-myeon, Chungju-si,” but it was actually a rice paddy field by the road. I looked around and asked an old man in the village, “Do you know about Yoo Ja-myeong?” To my surprise, he answered, “I am his grandson!” I looked at his face and could find a resemblance to Yoo Ja-myeong. His grandson named Yoo In-tak said, “My forehead is just like his.”

The grandson's place was right next to his birthplace. He explained about the birthplace of Yoo Ja-myeong.

“That used to be a field and a rice paddy when there was not much water. It was a field when there was no reservoir, and it turned into a rice paddy after water was supplied through the ditch.”

The grandson talked about Yoo Ja-myeong's journey and mentioned that his grandfather was lucky many times.

“His grandfather went to Taiwan to come home, but he was unable to come because all the flights to Korea were canceled after the Korean War broke out. You don't know how lucky he was that he could avoid the war. He was that lucky.”

Anti-Japanese Independence Movement and Agricultural Training of a Young Gray-haired Man

His grandson said that Yoo Ja-myeong was lucky, but if you think about it, it would have been heartbreaking that he could not return home when he wanted to. He had to lead a tough life in a foreign land. His life was that of the Korean diaspora.

From the spring of 1912 to the beginning of 1916, Yoo gained knowledge in agriculture, which became his lifelong asset, at the Suwon School of Agriculture. He participated in the March 1st Movement and fought for independence until 1922 when he left Korea for good to China, where he joined the independence movement and engaged in professional activities at the same time. In August 1928, Yoo joined the Chinese Anarchist Network after interacting with Chinese public figures in Nanjing. From January 1930 to 1935, Yoo taught at ‘Lida Institute’ in Shanghai, founded by Chinese anarchist Kuang Husheng. There he met and became friends with Ba Jin, who was later referred to as a Great Chinese Writer.

Ba Jin was deeply impressed by Yoo’s passion for and practice of the anti-Japanese independence movement. Ba Jin wrote a short story called 'The Story of Hair' after seeing Yoo, the 'young gray-haired man' who had gray hair at a young age. The character called Jin, who appears in the story, suddenly becomes gray-haired because of anger and concerns amidst the anti-Japanese struggle.

Yoo’s activities before the liberation of Korea indicate that he transcended the ethnic differences between Koreans and Chinese through anarchist ideologies and knowledge of agriculture. He also transcended ideological differences as it is apparent in his action as an arbitrator between the nationalist-affiliated Kim Goo and the socialist-affiliated Kim Won-bong. When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, Kim Goo, Kim Won-bong, and Yoo Ja-myeong met with Chiang Kai-shek in Lushan, Jiangxi Province, and were guaranteed support for the establishment of a joint anti-Japanese front between Korea and China and the support for the Korean independence movement. These activities highlight Yoo's role as an arbitrator.

Cosmopolitan who Received Honors from Home and Abroad

At the time of the liberation of Korea in 1945, Yoo was participating in an agricultural technology project in Fujian. He was unable to return to Korea with fellow Koreans from Chongqing. In March 1946, he took his family to Taiwan and stayed there. Yoo decided to return to Korea in 1950, but could not due to the sudden outbreak of the Korean War. He moved to Changsha, Hunan Province, China, where he worked as an agronomist and horticulturist until retiring.

In 1978, Yoo was awarded the Order of the National Flag of the Third Degree by the North Korean government. In 1996, he was posthumously awarded the title of the 'Star of Science and Technology' by the Hunan Provincial Government. In 1991, he was awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Patriotic Medal by the South Korean government. The achievements of Yoo Ja-myeong would be a representative example of the theory of ‘double mission’ as he contributed to both Korea’s independence and China’s anti-Japanese movement. Currently, his remains are buried in the Daejeon National Cemetery with his Korean and Chinese wives.

Yoo Ja-myeong said at the Hunan Agricultural Institute on October 19, 1977, “We have four people in my family, and I am the only international friendly figure, and my children and grandchildren are all Chinese.” Yoo Ja-myeong's children recalled, "When he drank, he always sang Arirang." Yoo Ja-myeong used to sing Arirang whenever he met his friends. He died in a foreign land as a Korean diaspora.