Independence activist of the Uiyeoldan (Righteous Fraternity), died in Seodaemun Prison; posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Independence Medal)
| Life | 1893 ~ 1931 |
| Era | 일제강점기 |
| Clan | 칠원 윤씨 |
Yun Byeong-gu (1893-1931) was an independence activist of the colonial period whose seat was Chilwon. According to the memorial-stele text erected in Cheongyang, his courtesy name was Uigyeong (義敬) and he was a 37th-generation Chilwon Yun descended from Yun Hwan. He was born on 16 March 1893 at Jungsan-ri, Cheongnam-myeon, Cheongyang, as eldest son of Yun Im-hak and his second wife of the Jeonju Yi. He is said to have been bold and adventurous from boyhood and to have traveled widely to learn of new things.
After the forced treaty of 1905 stripped the country of sovereignty he resolved to work for national salvation; after the March First Movement he reportedly crossed into Manchuria and joined the Uiyeoldan based in Beijing. In 1922, with Yu Seok-hyeon, Kim Ji-seop and others, he planned to assassinate the governor-general and bomb the Government-General, the Oriental Development Company and the Bank of Chosen, and returned home to raise funds. In December that year he demanded funds from a wealthy man in Seoul and was arrested by waiting police on the night of the 25th.
Given a heavy sentence, he served it at Seodaemun Prison and died there on 9 February 1931. In 1962 the government awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Independence Medal, and he was interred in the Chungnyeoldae section of the national cemetery at Dongjak-dong, Seoul. In 1991 a memorial stele was raised at the roadside of his home village in the name of the people of Cheongyang. Yun Byeong-il, another Chilwon Yun independence activist from Cheongyang, confirms the area as an important home of the clan.
The memorial text says that in 1922 Yun Byeong-gu planned with Yu Seok-hyeon and Kim Ji-seop to assassinate the governor-general and bomb major colonial institutions, and came home to raise funds. In December he demanded 50,000 won from a wealthy man in Mugyo-dong, Seoul, who refused; he then asked for 2,000 won, and on the night of the 25th he went to collect it and was seized by police lying in wait. These details rest on the stele text raised by Cheongyang County and should be checked against other sources.
The government posthumously awarded the Independence Medal of the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1962 and interred him at the national cemetery. Cheongyang County raised a memorial stele in 1991, the explanatory text was written by the local historian Yun Gyeong-su, with the clan bulletin Chilwon Yun Donbon no. 10 (2018) cited as a reference. Jokbo World classifies him as a patriot (independence merit holder).
He is interred in the Chungnyeoldae section of the national cemetery at Dongjak-dong, Seoul; a memorial stele stands in his home village of Jungsan-ri, Cheongnam-myeon, Cheongyang.