Independence patriot · Provisional Government · Order of Independence Medal (Dongnipjang, 1990)
| Life | 1892 ~ 1963 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 해주 최씨 |
Choe Dong-o (1892-1963), pen name Uisan, of the Haeju clan, was an independence activist who joined the March First Movement as a Cheondoist and fled to Shanghai, where he served as head of the Provisional Government's Interior Bureau for local affairs, worked with the Jeongeuibu, headed the Hwaseong Uisuk school, joined the Korean Revolutionary Party and Korean National Revolutionary Party, and served as vice-speaker of the Provisional Assembly and Minister of Justice. He received the Order of Independence Medal in 1990.
After the 1919 demonstrations he went into exile, served as an investigator for Uiju and counselor of the Interior Ministry, and in 1920 became head of the local affairs bureau, concentrating on propaganda work in support of Ahn Chang-ho. In 1923, at the National Representative Conference, he argued for dissolving the Provisional Government and left it for a time.
In April 1948 he attended the North-South conference in Pyongyang as a southern delegate and reunited with his former student Kim Il-sung. Detained after standing in the 1950 National Assembly election, he was taken to North Korea with Yu Dong-yeol when war broke out. His son Choe Deok-sin married Ryu Mi-yeong, daughter of fellow activist Yu Dong-yeol.
A Cheondoist who took part in the March First Movement, he fled to Shanghai. After serving as Uiju investigator and counselor of the Interior Ministry he became head of its local affairs bureau in 1920 and worked on propaganda alongside Ahn Chang-ho.
Active in the Jeongeuibu, he headed the Hwaseong Uisuk school in Manchuria, which Kim Il-sung is said to have attended. He later served in the Korean Revolutionary Party and the Korean National Revolutionary Party, as vice-speaker of the Provisional Assembly and as Minister of Justice.
He attended the April 1948 North-South conference in Pyongyang as a southern delegate, was arrested after standing in the 1950 election, and was taken north when the Korean War began. He is said to have died in 1963.
He received the Order of Independence Medal in 1990; details of his merits are recorded in the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs' e-archive of independence merit achievements.
He is said to be interred at the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery in North Korea.
His son Choe Deok-sin served as lieutenant general, Foreign Minister and Cheondoist leader, and married Ryu Mi-yeong, daughter of independence activist Yu Dong-yeol.