연병환
Independence supporter who worked at the Longjing customs house in Jiandao; eldest brother of Yeon Byeong-ho and father of Yeon Mi-dang
| Life | 1878 ~ 1926 |
| Era | 일제강점기 |
| Clan | 곡산 연씨 |
Life & career
Yeon Byeong-hwan (1878-1926) was an independence supporter born in Jeungpyeong, North Chungcheong. His father was Yeon Chae-ik (written Yeon Chae-u in some sources), and he was the eldest of four sons, with the independence activist Yeon Byeong-ho as his brother. He graduated from the government English school, was appointed a clerk in the Royal Household Ministry in 1897, worked at the Incheon and Busan customs houses, and in 1901 was posted as a commissioner at the Yangji Office.
In 1906 he refused an appointment as magistrate of Cheongju under the Residency-General and went to Manchuria. Between 1907 and 1908 he became a Chinese national and from July 1908 worked at the Longjing customs house, using information and funds obtained there to support the independence movement. After the 1910 annexation he sent his brothers into exile in Manchuria so the whole family settled there, and in 1912 he ran a girls' middle school in Yanji County.
In 1919 he supported the March 13 demonstrations at Longjing and became a target of the Japanese consulate police. The Chinese customs tried to protect him by transferring him to Tianjin, but Japanese police fabricated an opium charge and arrested him on June 19, questioning him for about two months. In October he was posted to the Shanghai customs and moved there with his family. According to the genealogy he joined the military work of the Jungwangdan, supplying weapons and funds. In July 1925 he became an adviser to the Henan military governor's office and died at his post in Zhenjiang in 1926 (May 14 or August 19, depending on the source).
His first wife stayed in his hometown and farmed to send funds for the movement; in Shanghai he had a daughter, Yeon Mi-dang, and a son, Yeon Chung-ryeol, with Kim Jeong-suk. He was buried in a foreign cemetery in Shanghai and his remains returned to Korea on November 14, 2014, 88 years later, to be interred at the National Cemetery. In 2008 he received a presidential citation. In 2016 Jeungpyeong County produced a photo album on him, Yeon Byeong-ho and Yeon Mi-dang.
A Family of Activists
Yeon Byeong-hwan stood at the center of a family of activists that included his brother Yeon Byeong-ho, daughter Yeon Mi-dang and son-in-law Eom Hang-seop. See the Goksan Yeon page too.
Grave
National Cemetery (remains returned from Shanghai in 2014)
Descendants
A family of independence activists: his brother Yeon Byeong-ho, daughter Yeon Mi-dang and son-in-law Eom Hang-seop.