Independence patriot · Provisional Government · Order of Patriotic Merit (Aejokjang, 1990)
| Life | 1898 ~ 1987 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 파평 윤씨 |
Yun Geon-jung, pen name Soam, was born in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. He took part in the March First independence rally at Tapgol Park in Seoul in 1919, then smuggled a copy of the Declaration of Independence into Jeonju hidden in a bicycle frame and led a mass demonstration there on market day, March 13.
Wanted by police, he fled to Shanghai, where he donated his personal fortune to the Provisional Government and served as a councilor of its State Council, befriending figures such as Syngman Rhee and Im Byeong-jik. In 1922, on Rhee's recommendation, he went to study in Germany, graduating in political economy from the University of Tübingen in 1927.
After liberation he continued in public life, serving as South Korea's ninth Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in 1954. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1990 and died in Wanju, North Jeolla Province, in 1987 at the age of 90.