Independence activist who was active in the Singanhoe and later an opposition leader
| Life | 1894 ~ 1960 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 한양 조씨 |
Jo Byeong-ok (趙炳玉, 1894-1960) was an independence activist, educator and politician of the Hanyang Jo clan, with the art name Yuseok (維石). He was born in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, the eldest son of the independence activist Jo In-won. His family traces its direct line to the Joseon founding merit subject Chungjeong-gong Jo In-ok, and the 'Byeong' (炳) in his name is the clan's 24th-generation character. His father was shot and imprisoned after leading the 1919 independence demonstration at Aunae market.
He studied at Yeongmyeong School in Gongju and Soongsil School in Pyongyang, went to the United States in 1914, studied at the University of Wyoming and in 1925 earned a doctorate in economics from Columbia University with a dissertation on Korea's land system. While abroad he worked with Ahn Chang-ho's Heungsadan and the Korean National Association. After returning he taught at Yonhui College and helped found the Singanhoe, serving as its finance director. He was sentenced to three years in prison for a 1929 rally supporting the Gwangju Student Movement, and was jailed again in the 1937 Suyang Dong-u-hoe incident.
After liberation he helped found the Korea Democratic Party and headed the national police as director of the Police Bureau under the US military government, a period in which he is also criticized for employing many former colonial police. After the founding of the Republic he served as a UN delegate; as Minister of Home Affairs in 1950 he worked to defend Daegu during the Korean War, but resigned in 1951 over the Geochang massacre. Breaking with the Rhee government, he was active in the Democratic Nationalist and Democratic parties, was elected to the National Assembly from Daegu in 1954 and from Seongdong, Seoul, in 1958, and led the party's old faction as chief representative.
Nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate in 1959, he died while being treated at Walter Reed Army Hospital in the United States ahead of the 1960 election. He received a national funeral, was buried in Suyu-dong, Seoul, and was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Independence Medal) in 1962. His sons Jo Yun-hyeong and Jo Sun-hyeong served as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and chairman of the Millennium Democratic Party.
Suyu-dong, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul