Independence patriot · Enlightenment movement · Patriotic Medal (Aegukjang, 1990)
| Life | 1847 ~ 1910 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 김해 김씨 |
Kim Geun-bae (1847–1910), courtesy name Gwang-won and pen name Maeha, was born in Mohyeon-ri, Iksan, North Jeolla Province. During the 1866 French incursion at Ganghwa Island he wrote and circulated a manifesto calling for volunteer soldiers while still a young man, and later studied at the Sungkyunkwan academy.
After the Eulsa Treaty was forced on Korea in 1905, he resigned his Sungkyunkwan post and returned home to teach the next generation an anti-Japanese, independence-minded spirit. When the Japanese colonial government tried to win him over with a "bestowed" stipend after the 1910 annexation, he firmly refused, left a testament vowing to preserve his loyalty through death, and drowned himself in a well while clutching a stone.