Independence activist who joined the March 1st demonstration at Sinjang-ri market in Seocheon; pen names Changbong and Sannam
| Life | 1897 ~ 1974 |
| Era | 일제강점기·현대 |
| Clan | 평택 임씨 |
Im Hak-gyu (1897-1974) was an independence activist and social activist from Seocheon, South Chungcheong, of the Pyeongtaek Im clan, with the pen names Changbong and Sannam. In April 1919 he took part, with fellow Protestants, in the large independence demonstration at Sinjang-ri in Masan-myeon, Seocheon, led by Song Gi-myeon.
Records say that on market day, 29 April, he handed out some 200 Korean flags to people arriving at the market and urged them to join, and a march of about 2,000 people shouted for independence. When Japanese police took Song Gi-myeon and others to the police box, he went there with the crowd demanding their release and was arrested; in June 1919 he was sentenced to one year and released in 1920.
He moved to Seoul in 1923 and made a living delivering and distributing newspapers; after liberation he joined the Korean Independence Party as a standing adviser in 1949. He posthumously received a presidential citation in 1983 and the Patriotic Medal (Aejok) in 1990. One of his daughters is said to have married Kim Sin, son of Kim Gu.
In April 1919, people gathered at the Sinjang-ri market in Seocheon on a market day. Led largely by Protestants, the protest drew thousands of market-goers and grew into a crowd protest to recover those arrested.
He became a standing adviser to the Korean Independence Party in 1949 and resigned in 1957; he was appointed a former adviser to the Democratic Republican Party in 1964 and left that post in 1973. This draft lists only the career without political evaluation.
The merit register records a presidential citation (1983) and the Patriotic Medal (1990).
The location of his grave was not confirmed here.