Educator, pastor and independence activist who led Myeongdong Village in Jiandao; recipient of the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Independence Medal)
| Life | 1868 ~ 1942 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 전주 김씨 |
Kim Yak-yeon (金躍淵, 1868-1942), pen name Gyuam (圭巖), was an independence activist born in Hoeryeong, North Hamgyeong. In 1900 he moved with his family to Longjing in Jiandao and in 1901 founded a small village school, Gyuamjae, which grew through Myeongdong Seosuk into Myeongdong School and Myeongdong Girls' School and became the center of the educational enlightenment movement in Jiandao. He was the maternal uncle of the poet Yun Dong-ju, who graduated from his Myeongdong School.
Originally a Confucian scholar, he converted to Protestantism in 1909, graduated from Pyongyang Theological Seminary in 1929, founded Myeongdong Church and became a pastor. He led the formation of the Ganmin-hoe, the self-governing body of the Jiandao Koreans, serving as its president, and took part in the Mu-o Declaration of Independence issued at Jilin in 1918. The Japanese authorities called him the leader of the Korean independence movement and the representative of a million compatriots.
He died in 1942, and in 1977 the government posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Independence Medal. A monument stands at Myeongdong Village in Longjing, his base of activity.
Myeongdong Village in Longjing, which Kim Yak-yeon settled with his family in 1900, remained his base for life. Gyuamjae, founded in 1901, grew into Myeongdong Seosuk and Myeongdong School, a foundation of national education where the poet Yun Dong-ju and others studied.
Beyond education, he served as a rallying point of the Korean community in Jiandao by founding a church and a self-governing body.
His nephew was the poet Yun Dong-ju, and a great-grandson, Kim Jae-hong, is said to have co-authored his biography. See also the Jeonju Kim clan page.