백정기 白貞基
Independence activist and anarchist (Rokusantei plot)
| Life | 1896 ~ 1934 |
| Era | 일제강점기 |
| Clan | 수원 백씨 |
Life & career
Baek Jeong-gi (白貞基, 1896-1934) was an independence activist born in Dongjin-myeon, Buan County, North Jeolla, with the art name Gupa and the courtesy name Yongseon. During the March 1st Movement he carried the declaration and leaflets home and led anti-Japanese activity there, and from August 1919 took part in attacks on Japanese people and military facilities.
In 1924 he helped found the Korean Anarchist Federation; in Shanghai he joined the League of Anarchists in China and secretly published the organ Jeongui gongbo. In 1932 he organized the Free Revolutionists League, renamed the Black Terror Corps (BTP). He also prepared an attempt at the time of Yun Bong-gil's April 29, 1932 Hongkou Park attack, but failed to obtain an entry ticket.
In March 1933 he was arrested at the Rokusantei restaurant in Shanghai while plotting to assassinate the Japanese minister to China, Ariyoshi Akira, and the Nagasaki court sentenced him and Won Sim-chang to life imprisonment. He died of illness in Kumamoto prison on June 5, 1934, aged 38. On July 6, 1946, a national funeral was held and he was laid to rest at Hyochang Park in Seoul with Yi Bong-chang and Yun Bong-gil; he received the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Independence Medal) in 1963. Korean Wikipedia classifies him as Suwon Baek, and some sources present him as a descendant of Baek In-geol.
An Anarchist Independence Fighter
He stood out for fighting Japan from an anarchist position distinct from nationalism or communism, building organizations and publishing an organ in Shanghai with comrades.
The Rokusantei Plot and the Three Martyrs
The March 1933 Rokusantei plot failed and its participants were arrested. He died in prison, and after liberation in 1946 he was laid to rest at Hyochang Park with Yi Bong-chang and Yun Bong-gil, honored as one of the Three Martyrs.
Grave
He is enshrined with Yi Bong-chang and Yun Bong-gil in the Three Martyrs' tombs at Hyochang Park, Seoul.