Shin Dol-seok (; 1878 – 1908) was a

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 ...

general of a

righteous Army Righteous armies (), sometimes translated as irregular armies or militias, were informal civilian militias that appeared several times in Korean history, when the national armies were in need of assistance. The first righteous armies emerged d ...

that fought against the Japanese army in the early 20th century.

Early life

He was born in Yeonghae (now Yeongdeok),

North Gyeongsang Province North Gyeongsang Province (, ) is a province in eastern South Korea, and with an area of , it is the largest province in the Korean peninsula. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remaine ...

. He was the son of Shin Seok-ju, and a member of the Pyongsan Shin clan.

Military career

Righteous armies emerged in the aftermath of the

assassination of Empress Myeongseong Around 6a.m. on 8 October 1895, Empress Myeongseong, Queen Min, the consort of the Korean monarch Gojong of Korea, Gojong, was assassinated by a group of Japanese agents under Miura Gorō. After her death, she was posthumously given the title of " ...

and an ordinance prohibiting '. It was motivated by

anti-Japanese sentiment Anti-Japanese sentiment (also called Japanophobia, Nipponophobia and anti-Japanism) is the fear or dislike of Japan or Japanese culture. Anti-Japanese sentiment can take many forms, from antipathy toward Japan as a country to racist hatr ...

. Armies were raised against Japan from every corner of the country. At that time, 19-year-old Shin Dol-seok participated in the anti-Japanese movement raising 100 soldiers. In 1905, the Eulsa Treaty (also known as the Japan-Korea Protectorate Treaty), made a pact between Korea and Japan. Due to the unequal and compulsory nature of the treaty, many people, including Shin Dol-seok, struggled against the Japanese army. In 1907, Korea signed another unequal treaty with Japan, at which time the previously irregular Righteous Armies finally formed a union against the Japanese army. However, other generals ruled Shin Dol-seok out of the union because he was a commoner. In the Korea of that time, it was not easy for a commoner to lead an army because of the strong adherence to the status system. However, his successful leadership using

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

tactics led many people to welcome his army, and began a successful campaign against Japanese troops. However, the Japanese Imperial forces started wiping out every Koreans that they found in independence fighter's hideouts, regardless of status, and Dol-seok's army was the ones that were hit particularly hard. After the events that have been contributing in slowly driving out the Japanese, Dol-seok was murdered by his cousin in 1908, who was blinded by the enormous bounty on his head. In 1962, for the contributions to the independence of Korea, he was awarded for his distinguished services by the Korean government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Dol-seok 1878 births 1908 deaths Korean generals Korean resistance members People from Yeongdeok County Pyongsan Shin clan