Pro-Japanese writer (listed in the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators)
Same-name figures:
이광수(李光秀) — Independence patriot · Armed righteous struggle · Order of Merit for National Foundation, Patriotic Citizen's Medal (1990)
| Life | 1892 ~ 1950 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 전주 이씨 |
Yi Gwang-su, penname Chunwon, was born in Jeongju, North Pyongan Province. Orphaned young, he studied in Japan and became a pioneer of modern Korean literature; his 1917 novel Mujeong ("The Heartless"), Korea's first modern full-length novel, caused a sensation among young readers with its treatment of free love. In 1919 he drafted and read the February 8th Declaration of Independence in Tokyo, then went to Shanghai, where he served as head of the Provisional Government's information bureau and president of its newspaper, Dongnip Sinmun.
After returning to Korea in 1921, he broke with the independence movement, advocating theories of "national reform" and limited self-rule under Japanese sovereignty. Following imprisonment in the 1937 Suyang Donguhoe incident, he adopted a Japanese name (Kayama Mitsuro) and actively promoted Japan's war effort, urging Koreans to enlist and be conscripted — activity that later placed him in the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators. Abducted to North Korea during the Korean War in 1950, he died the same year in Manpo.