Independence patriot · Manchuria region · Order of Patriotic Merit (Aegukjang, 1993)
| Life | 1902 ~ 1975 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 파평 윤씨 |
Yun Bong-chun, of the Papyeong Yun clan, was born in Hoeryeong, North Hamgyeong Province. After graduating from Hoeryeong Sinheung Common School's advanced course in 1918, he was arrested in 1919 on suspicion of joining the March First Movement and served six months in Cheongjin Prison; following his 1921 graduation from Myeongdong Middle School in northern Gando, he was arrested again in 1923 on suspicion of activity with the Korean Independence Army, reportedly including railway tunnel bombing, and served another eighteen months.
After his release, he made his acting debut in 1927 in Na Un-gyu's film The Field Mouse and his directing debut in 1930 with The Thief, but refused to join the pro-Japanese Chosun Film Association during the Pacific War and halted his career until liberation in 1945. Afterward he directed films honoring independence martyrs such as Yun Bong-gil and Yu Gwan-sun, and in 1963 served as president of the Federation of Korean Arts and Culture Organizations. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Patriotic Order, in 1993.