양기탁 梁起鐸
Journalist who led the Daehan Maeil Sinbo and independence activist of the Sinminhoe and the Provisional Government; pen name Ugang
| Life | 1871 ~ 1938 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 남원 양씨 |
Life & career
Yang Gi-tak (1871-1938) was a journalist and independence activist of the late Joseon and colonial periods, of the Namwon Yang clan. His pen names were Ugang and Ungang, and he is said to have been born in Gangseo, Pyeongan Province; sources differ on his birthplace and on his death date (19 or 20 April).
He studied English at the government foreign-language school, assisted missionary James Gale with a Korean-English dictionary, and took part in the Independence Club and the Manmin Gongdonghoe. In 1904 he began publishing with the Briton Ernest Bethell and in 1905 helped launch the mixed-script Daehan Maeil Sinbo, steering its anti-Japanese line, and was deeply involved in the National Debt Repayment Movement.
He joined the Sinminhoe in 1907 and promoted overseas bases for independence armies, and served a prison term in the 105-Man Incident. In the 1920s he organized the Uiseongdan in Manchuria and helped form several independence groups, and from 1933 to 1935 served as Premier (Gungmuryeong) of the Provisional Government. He died in Jiangsu, China in 1938 and received the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Presidential Class, in 1962.
Newspaper Work and the Debt Repayment Movement
Fluent in English, Yang worked as an interpreter at the Royal Household Department in 1904 and published an English paper with Bethell, then took part in founding the mixed-script Daehan Maeil Sinbo in 1905. Its foreign publisher let it keep an anti-Japanese line while partly avoiding censorship. In 1907, while handling National Debt Repayment Movement funds, he was arrested on embezzlement charges but is said to have been cleared.
The Sinminhoe and the 105-Man Incident
He took part in founding the Sinminhoe in 1907 and worked alongside figures such as An Chang-ho and Sin Chae-ho. In 1910 he scouted sites in Manchuria for independence-army bases, and he was arrested in the Anak Incident and the 1911 105-Man Incident, being released in 1915.
Manchuria and the Provisional Government
Arrested in Tianjin in 1918 and exiled to Geogeumdo, he was freed in 1919, escaped to Manchuria in 1920, organized the Uiseongdan and is said to have helped form groups such as the Tonguibu and Jeonguibu. He served as Provisional Government Premier from 1933 to 1935, took part in forming the Korean National Revolutionary Party in 1935 amid the single-party movement, and in 1937 rebuilt the Joseon Revolutionary Party as its leader.
Honors and Family
He was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Presidential Class, in 1962. His birth father was Yang Si-yeong and he is recorded as adopted by his uncle Yang Si-uk. Other Namwon Yang figures include Yang Se-bong and Yang Heon-su. See the Namwon Yang page for lineage.
Grave
Buried in Jiangsu, China, his tomb was identified by a 1993 excavation survey and his remains were repatriated and interred at the Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak.
Descendants
His son Yang Hyo-son is recorded as abducted to the North in 1951; a granddaughter's husband, Park Yu-cheol, served as Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.