Twelfth-generation descendant of Ko Gyeong-myeong who led Honam righteous armies and died at Yeongoksa in Gurye; pen name Nokcheon
| Life | 1848 ~ 1907 |
| Era | 대한제국기(구한말) |
| Clan | 장흥 고씨 |
Ko Gwang-sun (1848-1907) was a righteous-army leader of the Korean Empire period, of the Jangheung Ko clan, with the pen name Nokcheon. A native of Changpyeong, Damyang, he is presented as a twelfth-generation descendant of the Imjin War leader Ko Gyeong-myeong and ritual heir of the second son Ko In-hu.
The Academy of Korean Studies entry says that after the 1895 assassination of the queen he raised troops with Gi U-man and served as commander of the Left Route volunteers. After the 1905 Eulsa Treaty he was chosen commander in his sixties; after attacking the Japanese at Namwon Fortress he went to Yeongoksa in Gurye and used Hwagae-dong and Munsuam as bases, and is said to have made a banner reading "Buwonbok" to encourage the troops.
In 1907 he was attacked at night at Yeongoksa by Japanese troops and died with his deputy Ko Je-ryang and others. Sources differ on the date: some describe a night raid in the ninth month, while an article citing Japanese field diaries records a battle on October 17. Wikipedia says he was awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Independence Medal, in 1962.
Ko Gwang-sun based himself around Yeongoksa and gathered troops under a Buwonbok banner. The phrase, meaning "we shall return before long", is read as a vow to recover the nation.
A memorial stele stands at the entrance to Yeongoksa, and press reports say that members of the Liberation Association's Gwangju branch and others paid respects there in 2025.
The newspaper series says that during his campaign Japanese forces persecuted his family and burned his house at Changpyeong, destroying books and relics of the Hakbong head house. Poeuisa in Damyang, which enshrines him, is said to have been moved to its present site in 1970 by the Damyang county government.
Wikipedia-derived sources say he is buried in the independence patriots section of the Daejeon National Cemetery, which was not independently confirmed here. A memorial stele stands at the entrance of Yeongoksa in Gurye, and he is honored at Poeuisa in Damyang.
A news article reports that, under Japanese persecution, the line was at risk of ending and Ko Yeong-jun, born 1939, was entered as his grandson by decision of the family elders.