Independence activist from Yecheon who raised funds and led youth movements; pen name Jungsan; Order of Merit for National Foundation (Patriotism)
| Life | 1936 |
| Era | 일제강점기 |
| Clan | 예천 권씨 |
Gwon Won-ha (權元河) was an independence activist from Yecheon, North Gyeongsang, in the colonial period, with pen name Jungsan (仲山). Jangsang News introduces him in its Yecheon Gwon article as a 14th-generation descendant of Gwon O-gi, so he is classed under the Yecheon clan. According to the Gyeongbuk Northern Patriots and Veterans Office and local press, in February 1920 he entered Korea on a secret order from the military government, raising funds and recruiting military cadets. In July of that year he was arrested with comrades Choe Jae-hwa, Jo Gang-je, Bae Seung-hwan and Kim Yeong-cheol and sentenced to two years in prison.
After release he ran the Chosun Ilbo branch in his hometown while continuing covert resistance. In June 1927 he held a Yecheon youth convention that resolved to actively support the Singan-hoe, the anti-Japanese front uniting nationalists and socialists. Jangsang News says he died in 1936 without seeing liberation after years of imprisonment and torture; because this date rests on a single report, check it against the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.
In 1990 the government posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Patriotism Medal, and in February 2003 designated the Jungsan Gwon Won-ha Independence Monument in Yecheon as a commemorative site. A local post says he taught children at Byeongamjeong in Yongmun-myeon, the pavilion managed by the Byeongam branch of the clan.
His birth date and an explicit clan statement were not found in official sources; the classification rests on the clan article and descendant relation. Consult the Gongnoon database or the Dictionary of Korean Independence Movement for exact details, and do not confuse him with independence figures of the Andong Gwon clan.
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs designated the Jungsan Gwon Won-ha Independence Monument in Yecheon a commemorative site in February 2003. Its exact location was not confirmed here.