Politics / Peerage (Pro-Japanese collaborator)
| Life | 1877 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 밀양 박씨 |
Bak Sang-jun was active during the late Korean Empire and Japanese colonial period. Born in Seongcheon, South Pyongan Province, he began as a private-school teacher and head of the Seongcheon branch of the Taegeuk Society, taking part in enlightenment activities, but after the Japan-Korea annexation he served as magistrate of Gangdong and Suncheon counties and turned into a pro-Japanese official.
Pro-Japanese activities Starting as a councilor of South Pyongan Province in 1921, he served as governor of Gangwon (1926), North Hamgyong (1927), and Hwanghae (1928) provinces, and in 1937 he gave pro-Japanese lectures across South Gyeongsang Province as part of a wartime propaganda lecture team. In 1939 he concurrently held the posts of Government-General Central Council councilor and head professor (Daejehak) of the Gyeonghakwon, leading the pro-Japanese reorganization of the Confucian establishment, and in April 1945 he was appointed an imperially-designated member of Japan's House of Peers. For these activities he is listed as a pro-Japanese collaborator by the government's Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborator Activities and/or the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Biography compiled by the Center for Historical Truth and Justice.