Korean Language Society Incident

The Korean Language Society Incident refers to the arrest, torture, and imprisonment of members of the Korean Language Society, which occurred in 1942 under the Japanese colonial rule of Korea.[1]

In October 1942, the South Hamgyong Provincial Police arrested members of the Korean Language Society on charges of violating the Public Security Act.[2][3] Following torture, a confession was obtained that the Joseon Language Society was an organization having as its purpose the independence of Korea from Japan. However, at that time, the society was engaged in researching the Joseon language, establishing spelling rules, and compiling a dictionary of the Korean language. Members did not engage in group activities that would violate the (Japanese) Public Security Act.

In the late 1950s, Lee Hee-seung (李熙昇) left a memoir closest to the truth. In the early 1970s, a new 'memory' was created in celebration of the 25th anniversary of liberation and the 50th anniversary of the Korean Language Society. In particular, the happening at Jeonjin Station, which was the beginning of the incident, was reconstructed to fit the status of the Joseon Language Society.

The writing in the diary, which is a private area, has been changed to an open space, a conversation in the train. The use of Korean, not Japanese, became a problem. From the beginning, it was 'Korean language common use' that could be interpreted in various ways. The Japanese police interpreted it in Japanese, and Korea in the 1970s interpreted it in Korean. In the 1980s, there were rebuttal recollections by the parties to the incident, but the historical narrative did not change. It was because the Joseon Language Society was already a symbol of suffering and resistance through the medium of the national language.[2]

Laws leading to the event
  • In 1936, the Japanese government in Korea passed the <Chosun Ideological Crime Protection Ordinance 조선사상범보호관찰령>.
  • In 1941, the <Chosun Ideological Criminal Prevention Ordinance조선사상범보호관찰령> was modified.
  • In 1943, the 4th Joseon Education Ordinance policy abolished Korean language education, banned the use of Korean, and forced the use of Japanese.

And from April 1939, the Japanese government in Korea abolished Korean language subjects in schools and proceeded to close Korean language newspapers and magazines.

Timeline
  • In July 1942, Park Byeong-yeop (wearing Korean traditional costume) was waiting for a friend at Jeonjin Station in Hongwon-eup, South Hamgyeong-do. He was questioned and taken into custody at the Hongwon Police Station. The Hongwon police searched his house, and the diary of Park Young-ok (his niece) was confiscated. This contained a phrase apparently showing that one of her teachers at Yeongsaeng High School 4 in Hamheung rejected the Japanese law to teach using only the Japanese language. Young-Ok Park and her friends Soon-Nam Choi, Soon-Ja Lee, Jeong Seong-Hee, In-Ja were arrested and interrogated. After enduring torture for several days, they finally incriminated two teachers, Kim Hak-joon and Jung Tae-jin, who had encouraged students to use Hangul, and had tried to inspire a sense of independence by telling stories such as the fall of Japanese imperialism, the revival of the Joseon people, and the story of the sacrifice of Gyewolhyang during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592. Both Kim Hak-joon and Jeong Tae-jin were members of the Korean Language Society.[3]
  • In September 1942, a student at Yeongsaeng Girls’ High School was arrested for talking in Korean by the Japanese police and interrogated.
  • On October 1, 1942, the police, having concluded that the Korean Language Society was an independence movement group. began to arrest members, including: Lee Yun-jae (李允宰), Choi Hyun-bae, Lee Hee-seung (李熙昇), Jeong In-seung, Kim Yoon-kyung, Kwon Seung-wook, Jang Ji-young. Eleven people, including Han Jing, Lee Jung-hwa, Lee Seok-rin , and Lee Geuk-ro, were arrested in Seoul and sent to Hongwon, Hamgyeongnam-do.
  • On October 18, 1942, Lee Woo-sik (李愚軾) and Kim Beop-rin( 金法麟) were arrested.
  • On October 20, 1942, Jeong Yeol-mo was arrested.
  • On October 21, 1942, Lee Byeong-gi (이병기), Lee Man-gyu, Lee Kang-rae, and Kim Seon-ki were arrested
  • on December 23, 1942, Seo Seung -hyo, Ahn Jae-hong, Lee In, Kim Yang-soo, Jang Hyeon-sik, Jeong In-seop, Yun Byeong-ho, Lee Eun-sang were arrested separately
  • Kim Do-yeon (金度演) on March 5, 1943, and
  • Seo Min-ho (徐珉濠) on March 6, 1943, respectively, and all were detained at the Hongwon Police Station.
  • From the end of March to April 1, Hyeon-mo Shin and Jong-cheol Kim were interrogated without detention.
  • Kwon Deok-gyu and Ahn Ho-sang escaped arrest due to illnesses,
  • By the end of March 1943, 29 people had been arrested and sentenced to all sorts of barbaric punishments. They were severely tortured, and 48 people had been interrogated.
  • Lee Yoon-jae, Han Jing died in prison, before completion of their trials.

Persons involved in the Korean Language Society incident
name birth date death date place of birth sentence Order of Merit for National Foundation Year of award note
Jeong Taejin 1903 1952 Gyeonggi Paju 2 years imprisonment Independence medal 1962
Lee Geuk-ro 1893 1978 Gyeongnam Uiryeong 6 years imprisonment - - North Korea
Lee Yun-jae 1888 1943 Gyeongnam Gimhae - Independence medal 1962 died in prison while on trial
Choi Hyeon-bae 1894 1970 Gyeongnam Ulsan 4 years imprisonment Independence medal 1962
Lee Hee-seung 1896 1989 Gyeonggi Province 2 years and 6 months imprisonment Independence medal 1962
Jeong In-seung 1897 1986 Jeonbuk Jangsu 2 years imprisonment independence medal 1962
Kim Yunkyung 1894 1969 Hanseong postponement of prosecution patriotic medal 1990 1 year imprisonment
Kwon Seung-wook 1916 1974 Jeonbuk Gochang postponement of prosecution - -
Jang Ji-young 1889 1976 Hanseong extinction of prosecution patriotic medal 1990 1 year in prison
Han Jing 1886 1944 Hanseong - independence medal 1962 died in prison while on trial
Lee Jung-hwa (이중화) 1881 1950? Hanseong 2 years imprisonment, 4 years probation national medal 2013 2 years imprisonment
Lee Seokrin 1914 1999 Gyeongseong postponement of prosecution national medal 1990 1 year in prison
Lee Kangrae 1891 1967 Hanseong postponement of prosecution national medal 1990 1 year imprisonment
Kim Seon-gi (金善琪) 1907 1999 Hanseong postponement of prosecution national medal 1990 1 year imprisonment
Lee Byeong-gi 1891 1968 Jeonbuk Iksan postponement of prosecution patriotic medal 1990[4] 1 year imprisonment, released 1943[5]
Lee Man-gyu 1882 1978 Gangwon Wonju postponement of prosecution - - Imprisoned for 1 year, lived in North Korea
Jeong Yeolmo 1895 1967 Chungbuk Hoiin extinction of prosecution - - Imprisoned for 1 year, lived in North Korea
Kim Beop-rin 1899 1964 Gyeongnam Dongnae 2 years imprisonment, 4 years probation independence medal 1995 2 years imprisonment
Lee Woo-shik 1891 1966 Gyeongnam Uiryeong 2 years imprisonment, 4 years probation independence medal 1977 2 years imprisonment
Yoon Byeong-ho (尹炳浩,윤병호) 1889 1974 Gyeongnam Namhae postponement of prosecution national medal 1990 1 year imprisonment
Seo Seung-hyo 1882 1964 Chungnam Cheongyang postponement of prosecution - -
Kim Yang-soo 1896 1969 Hanseong 2 years imprisonment, 4 years probation patriotic medal 1990 2 years imprisonment
Hyunsik Jang (장현식) 1896 1950 Jeonbuk Gimje innocence patriotic medal 1990 Imprisonment for 4 years, abduction
Lee In 1896 1979 Hanseong 2 years imprisonment 4 years probation independence medal 1963 2 years imprisonment
Lee Eun-sang 1903 1982 Gyeongnam Masan postponement of prosecution patriotic medal 1990 1 year imprisonment
Jeong In-seop 1905 1983 Gyeonggi Gimpo 1 year imprisonment national medal 1990
Ahn Jae-hong 1891 1965 Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi non-prosecution presidential medal 1989 2 years imprisonment
Kim Do-yeon 1894 1967 Hanseong 2 years imprisonment, 4 years probation patriotic medal 1991 2 years imprisonment
Seo Min-ho 1903 1974 Jeonnam Goheung - national medal 2001 1 year imprisonment
Shin Hyun-mo 1894 1975 yellow sea yeonbaek postponement of prosecution national medal 1990
Kim Jong-cheol 1890 1957 Jeonnam Suncheon postponement of prosecution - - abroad
Kwon Deok-kyu 1890 1950 Gyeonggi Gimpo suspension of prosecution patriotic medal 2019 ill
Ahn Ho-sang 1902 1999 Gyeongnam Uiryeong suspension of prosecution - - ill

The 2019 South Korean movie, Mal-Mo-E: The Secret Mission, fictionalises the story of the creation of the first Hangul dictionary and the story of this incident of torture and imprisonment of key members of the Korean Language society, while apparently remaining close to the facts.[6]

References
  1. "글로벌 세계 대백과사전/한국사/민족의 독립운동/신문화운동과 3·1운동/신문화운동 - 위키문헌, 우리 모두의 도서관 Global World Encyclopedia/Korean History/National Independence Movement/New Cultural Movement and March 1st Movement/New Cultural Movement". ko.wikisource.org (in Korean). Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  2. Shin Jang (February 2016). "The Origin of the Joseon Language Society Incident and the Birth of a National Narrative". JOURNAL OF KOREAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT STUDIES (in English and Korean). null (53): 109–141. doi:10.15799/KIMOS.2016..53.004. ISSN 1225-7028. Wikidata Q119269132.
  3. 민족문제연구소 (27 March 2017). "[근현대사 25] 조선어학회사건과 조선인 형사들 The Joseon Language Society Incident and Korean Detectives". 민족문제연구소 (in Korean). Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  4. "공훈전자사료관 Certificate of Merit for Independence: Lee Byeonggi". e-gonghun.mpva.go.kr. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  5. David R. McCann (2011). "Karam and the Revitalization of the Sijo in Korean and English". Azalea Journal of Korean Literature & Culture. 4 (1): 161–168. doi:10.1353/AZA.2011.0025. ISSN 1944-6500. Wikidata Q119421689.
  6. "[FICTION VS. HISTORY] The dramatic history of 'Mal_Mo_E': Film about the creation of the first hangul dictionary stays pretty close to the facts". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
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