An Chang-nam (19 March 1901 – 2 April 1930) was the first

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

to fly a plane within the Korean peninsula.

Early life

Born on 19 March 1901 and raised in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, he is believed to have been inspired to learn to fly after having seen an

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

demonstration by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

pilot Art Smith in 1916 or 1917. However, his beginnings was quite unorthodox: after stealing his stepmother's money, he ran away from home. Using the stolen money, he traveled to Japan at which he attended a driving school and graduated successfully.

Career

In 1920, he graduated from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's Okuri Aviation School in Susaki (present-day Kōtō, Tokyo). He passed his examinations to obtain a basic pilot's permit the following year. An borrowed a single-engine plane from the Okuri Aviation School and on December 10, 1922, flew the plane over the Yeouido island. Though it was not the first public plane flight in Korea, roughly 50,000 people visited Yeouido island to watch the first Korean fly a plane in his motherland. The flight was relatively simple, with An simply circling over the crowd. Following the display, he additionally flew in

and made flight to

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

. However, due to bad weather, plans to fly to more cities was cancelled. On his homecoming flight, he landed at the same airport he took off in. Donga Ilbo, a major Korean newspaper at the time, sponsored An's flights and documented his aviations and achievements. He returned to Japan after his flights over Korea in late December of the same year. In 1925, An was forced to evacuate to China after facing oppression in Japan. Tokyo earthquake of 1923 and the subsequent anti-Korean riots may have played a major factor in his decision. After few years of residing at China (in which

Korean nationalism Korean nationalism can be viewed in two different contexts. One encompasses various movements throughout history to maintain a Korean cultural identity, history, and ethnicity (or "race"). This ethnic nationalism was mainly forged in opposition ...

prospered), he began to advocate for

Korean independence movement The Korean independence movement was a series of diplomatic and militant efforts to liberate Korea from Japanese rule. The movement began around the late 19th or early 20th century, and ended with the surrender of Japan in 1945. As independence a ...

. Despite his newfound activities, An's involvement in aviation did not end here. He established a flying school in response to an offer from Chinese warlords. An died while on a flight that crashed in April 1930. Although the cause of the accident was not supported by evidence, some historians speculate that foul play by Japanese officials may have been involved. He was posthumously awarded

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Order of Merit for National Foundation The Order of Merit for National Foundation () is one of South Korea's orders of merit. It is awarded by the President of South Korea for "outstanding meritorious services in the interest of founding or laying a foundation for the Republic of Kor ...

in 2003.

References

External links

The An Chang-nam Memorial Society

Entry for An Chang-nam on Empas
1901 births 1930 deaths Aviation pioneers Korean aviators Korean expatriates in China People from Seoul Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in China Recipients of the Order of Merit for National Foundation Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1930 Chang-nam {{Aviation-bio-stub