Ko Hui-jun

Ko Hui-jun (高羲駿, Japanese name: 高島基 Takashima Moto, November 1880 – ?) was a pro-Japanese collaborator who served as an executive of the pro-Japanese organization National Association during the Japanese colonial period, and who took part in supporting the Pacific War in the final years of Japanese rule.

Life

He was from Gyeonggi-do Gyeongseong-bu, and his registered family domicile was Hwanggeum-jeong, Gyeongseong-bu. He worked as an official from the Korean Empire period onward, serving as magistrate of Geoje-gun, Jinnam-gun, and Sinchang-gun in Chungcheongnam-do. While serving as magistrate of Geoje, he also founded Geoje Elementary School, the first modern educational school in Geoje County.

Ko began his pro-Japanese path in 1909, when he joined Yi Yong-gu's Iljinhoe. However, the following year he joined the National Speech Association associated with Yi Wan-yong, breaking with Yi Yong-gu and turning toward Yi Wan-yong and Cho Chung-ung. At the time, the two pro-Japanese figures Yi Yong-gu and Yi Wan-yong were in competition over the "annexation petition movement." After the Iljinhoe was dissolved in 1910, he co-founded and took part in the Jeongwoo Association, and that same year he also joined the Guksi Yuseodan, which conveyed the justification for the Japan–Korea annexation through speeches.

Afterward, Ko spent most of the Japanese colonial period as an executive of the National Association. The National Association was an organization formed in 1920 by the Governor-General's Office by reorganizing Min Won-sik's Hyeopseong Club. While active in this organization, in 1924 he published in the Government-General of Korea's organ, the '''', an editorial titled "If Independence Is Realized, Will the Korean People Truly Be Happy?", aimed at neutralizing the independence movement atmosphere that had risen after the . Through his devotion to pro-Japanese activities, he received an honor that included his appointment to the .