Yi Yun-yong (August 19, 1890 – October 15, 1975) was a South Korean politician. He was the acting

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

following Chang Myon.

Biography

Early life and activism

Yi was born in 1890 in

Nyongbyon County Nyŏngbyŏn County (in standard Southern dialect: Yŏngbyŏn) is a county in North Pyŏngan province, North Korea. It borders the cities of Kaechŏn and Anju, and covers an area of 504 km². Description The city was heavily fortified d ...

, and his

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ''ho'' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by East Asian artists, poets and writers. The ...

was Baeksa (白史). He graduated from Sungduk school(a school founded in by American missionary Ethel Esty) in the region, and received lessons about land surveys from the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

.In 1910 he became a principal for a school and graduated from Sungshil instructors school in 1912. In 1916, he became a pastor. While working as a pastor for the Sinchang church, he was arrested for leading lectures for korean independence and served jailtime of 1 year and two months. In 1936, he was against the unification of korean churches with the Japanese churches, fearing the dissolution of korean churches by the japanese authorities. In the context of the Pacific wars, he was fired from his pastor post.

Post-liberation

Directly after liberation of korea in the August 1945, he became the vice president of the Pyongyang people's committee and participated in the founding of the Korean Social Democratic Party(then known as the Korean Democratic Party, though when he defected to South Korea, the party came with him) with Cho Man-sik. He defected to South Korea in February 1946 after it was revealed that he sent a secret letter to Seoul regarding his opinions of being against the trusteeship decision. In 1948 he became one of the founding members of the South Korean parliament. He was appointed as a

Minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet ...

in 1952 and inaugurated as principal for Sinheung college(which were to be Kyung Hee University) and became the head of committee for the anti communist reunification union in July of the same year. He was elected as head of the Korean democratic party in 1958.In 1961 he was against the extension of military rule.

Notes

References

Prime Ministers of South Korea 1890 births 1975 deaths Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Korean Social Democratic Party politicians {{SouthKorea-politician-stub