조명하 趙明河
Independence activist who attacked a Japanese imperial prince in Taichung, Taiwan, in 1928
| Life | 1905 ~ 1928 |
| Era | 일제강점기 |
| Clan | 함안 조씨 |
Life & career
Jo Myeong-ha (趙明河, 1905-1928) was an independence activist of the colonial period, of the Haman Jo clan. He is said to have been born on 11 May 1905 (lunar 8 April) in Pungcheon County, Hwanghae, the second son of Jo Yong-u, and to have studied and trained himself in Pungcheon. In 1926 he worked briefly as a clerk at the Sincheon county office and then went to Japan to study, working his way through night school in Osaka from September.
In Japan he resolved to join the independence movement and planned to reach the Provisional Government in Shanghai via Taiwan, stopping in Taiwan in November 1927. Working in a shop in Taichung, he learned that Army General Prince Kuninomiya Kuniyoshi (久邇宮邦彦王) was visiting Taiwan as an inspector and resolved to kill him. Some sources read the name as Kunihiko.
On 14 May 1928 he threw a poisoned dagger at the prince; it grazed his neck and struck the driver in the back, and Jo Myeong-ha was arrested on the spot. He was sentenced to death on 18 July and executed by firing squad at Taihoku prison on 10 October. His age at death is given as 23 or 24 depending on the source. In 1963 he was posthumously awarded the Independence Medal of the Order of Merit for National Foundation.
Last Words and Memory
His last words before execution are said to express regret at dying without seeing his homeland independent and a resolve to continue the independence movement even in the next world. A KBS drama about him, Jo Myeong-ha, aired in 1989.
Memorials
A sign explaining the attack stands at the intersection in front of Taichung City Hall, and a statue was erected at the Korean school in Taipei in 1978. A statue was also raised at Seoul Grand Park on 14 May 1988, the 60th anniversary, and he was named Independence Activist of the Month in May 1993.
Family and Differences in Sources
He is introduced among the 29th generation of the Je (濟) or Ha (河) names in the Haman Jo clan. His age and the spelling of the prince's name differ between sources, and this page notes the differences. For the clan see Haman Jo.
Grave
His tomb could not be confirmed here.