Park Seung-hwan () was a Korean military officer and independence activist of the

Korean Empire The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910. Dur ...

. After his suicide, he was known for instigating the

Battle of Namdaemun The Battle of Namdaemun (), also known as the Battle of the South Great Gate, was a rebellion by the Korean army against Japanese forces in Korea as a reaction to the disbandment of the Korean army following the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907. It ...

as a response to the disbanding of the Korean military following the

Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907 The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907 was made between the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire in 1907. Negotiations were concluded on July 24, 1907.Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922. (1922) ...

and the abdication of

Emperor Gojong Gojong (; 8 September 1852 – 21 January 1919), personal name Yi Myeongbok (), later Yi Hui (), also known as the Gwangmu Emperor (), was the penultimate List of monarchs of Korea, Korean monarch. He ruled Korea for 43 years, from 1864 to 19 ...

Biography

He was born on September 7, 1869, in

Hanseong The region now corresponding to Seoul, South Korea has been inhabited since the Paleolithic Age. It has been the capital of a number of kingdoms since it was established. Prehistoric It is believed that humans were living in the area that is n ...

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

as the eldest of three children of Park Joo-pyo and Namyang Hong. In 1887, he took the exam in Mugwa and on September 28, 1896, he entered the Military Academy of Korean Empire. Yi Hak-gyun, the academy principal, was a nationalist who opposed Japanese influence, which influenced Park's beliefs. He graduated on March 21, 1897, and was commissioned as a Second-Lieutenant in the Imperial Korean Guards. Afterwards, on November 11, 1899, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the army and was appointed as the platoon commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Siwi Regiment and on July 23, 1900, he was promoted to the rank of captain and took the command of the 1st company of the 1st Qinwi Regiment. Then on 14 August 1900 he took the command of company leader of the 1st Siwi Regiment. On 15 February 1904, Park was promoted to Major and became the 1st Battalion leader of

1st Siwi Regiment The 1st Siwi Regiment later Siwi Mixed Brigade was a unit of Imperial Korean Army. The regiment was formed in May 1898. However after the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907, the regiment was disestablished. Lineage By the order of Gojong of Korea, 1s ...

. While serving as the 1st Battalion Commander of the 1st Siwi Regiment, he entered the palace when Emperor Gojong was forcibly taken away by the Japanese in 1907 and attempted to restore the throne, but he stopped because he was afraid of harming King Gojong. On August 1, 1907, he gathered officers above a battalion commander or higher at the Japanese military headquarters to disband the army. Park then committed suicide with a pistol and wrote a

suicide letter A suicide note or death note is a message written by a person who intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depend on ethnic ...

which read: When Park's suicide became known, some of the soldiers of the 1st Chamryeong under him became enraged and started an anti-Japanese uprising, which led to the

. After the uprising was put down, the Imperial Japanese government defamed Park's suicide. In 1909,

An Jung-geun An Jung-geun (; 2 September 1879 – 26 March 1910) was a Korean independence activist. He is remembered as a martyr in both South and North Korea for his 1909 assassination of the Japanese politician Itō Hirobumi, who had previously served a ...

assassinated

Itō Hirobumi Kazoku, Prince , born , was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior state ...

Harbin Station Harbin railway station () is a railway station on the Jingha railway, Binsui Railway, Labin Railway, Binbei Railway and Binzhou Railway. The station is in Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. History Songhuajiang station () was op ...

to avenge Park's death.

Legacy

After his death, in 1962, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential

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 ...

by the

Government of South Korea The government of South Korea () is the national government of the Republic of Korea, created by the Constitution of South Korea as the executive, legislative and judicial authority of the republic. The president acts as the head of state and ...

. In August 2003, he was selected as a national figure of South Korea.

Family

Park had a son, Park Jeong-hup, and two grandchildren, Park Dae-jong and Park Wang-jong.

In popular culture

His statement and act of suicide are portrayed in the 2018 South Korean TV series, '' Mr Sunshine,'' as is the

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Seung-hwan 1869 births 1907 deaths People from Seoul Suicides by firearm in Korea Korean resistance members Imperial Korean military personnel 1907 suicides