Park Chang-am (朴蒼巖, May 15, 1923 – November 10, 2003) was a South Korean army officer, politician, historian, journalist, and writer who had served as a non-commissioned officer in the Manchukuo Army's Gando Special Unit. So strong was his conviction in recovering the territories of Goguryeo and Goj
Born~Died May 15, 1923 ~ Nov 10, 2003Last edited Oct 15, 2026, 2:51 PM
President of the Jayu Monthly Press, Member of the Central Committee and Party Affairs Committee of the Korea Independence Party (1964), Standing Adviser and Party Affairs Committee member of the Korean National Party (1986)
Yi Sang-o (father-in-law), Yi Si-u (wife's great-grandfather), Yi Il-u (wife's great-great-uncle), Yi Sang-jeong (wife's uncle), Han Mun-i (wife's aunt), Kwon Ki-ok (wife's aunt), Yi Sang-hwa (wife's uncle), Yi Sang-baek (wife's uncle), Yi Jun-hui (brother-in-law), Yi Yeol-hui (second cousin brother-in-law), Seo Jeong-gwi (second cousin co-brother-in-law)
Park Chang-am (朴蒼巖, May 15, 1923 – November 10, 2003) was a South Korean armysoldier, politician, historian, journalist, and writer who had served as a non-commissioned officer in the Manchukuo Army's Gando Special Unit. So strong was his conviction in recovering the territories of Goguryeo and Gojoseon, including Gando, that he chose "Manchuria" as his art name. He mainly used the name Manchuria (滿洲), though he occasionally used Heoju (虛舟) and Nongbu (農夫).1 In 1968, he spent his own money to launch the monthly magazine Jayu (‘자유’).
Biography
He was of the Miryang lineage (密陽). He was born in Pukchong, South Hamgyong Province, and in his early childhood he briefly lived in Tanchon, South Hamgyong Province.23 After graduating from the Manchukuo National Yanji (Gando) Normal School, he worked as a teacher at Joyangcheon Elementary School in Gando, and in 1943 he enlisted in the Gando Special Unit, a Manchukuo military force. The Gando Special Unit was a special-purpose anti-guerrilla unit formed to suppress the socialist anti-Japanese national liberation forces in northern Manchukuo, namely the Eighth Route Army, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, and the Korean Volunteers Corps, as well as the Korean Independence Army that remained in northwestern Manchuria. The Gando Special Unit killed 172 anti-Japanese armed fighters and civilians. Many were also subjected to rape, plunder, and torture.
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After liberation, he taught at Hyeopsin Industrial School in Pyongyang before moving to Seoul, and in 1949 he was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the army and went on to fight in the Korean War. During the war, he mainly took part in operations against partisans and in psychological warfare against North Korea. During the Korean War he served as commander of the reconnaissance company of the 8th Division, commander of the East Sea Guerrilla Unit, and commander of an army special unit, and in 1960 he served as commandant of cadets at the Korea Military Academy. What brought him public attention was his participation in the May 16 military coup led by Major General Park Chung-hee in 1961. Together with Park Chung-hee, Chang Do-yeong, and others, he took part in the May 16 military coup, but he was purged following the Alaska bandit suppression operation. He retired from the army as a brigadier general. He took part in the May 16 coup as a member of its core forces and served as head of the "Revolutionary Prosecution Office," a fearsome body that purged the corruption of the former regime.
While serving as chief of the Revolutionary Prosecution Office, he also arrested Chang Do-yeong, chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, on charges of counter-revolutionary conspiracy and referred him to a military trial. However, after he left the post of chief of the Revolutionary Prosecution Office in February 1963 and retired as a brigadier general, he himself was arrested on charges of counter-revolution, experiencing a "reversal of fortune." On March 11, 1963, the Central Intelligence Agency, led by Kim Jae-chun, announced that he was a person involved in a counter-revolutionary incident. The Central Intelligence Agency announced that Kim Dong-ha, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general who had led the Marine Corps with Major General Park Chung-hee across the Han River Bridge on the day of May 16 and succeeded in the coup, Park Im-hang, a retired army lieutenant general, Yi Gyu-gwang, a retired army brigadier general (the uncle of Lee Soon-ja, wife of former President Chun Doo-hwan), and other core members of the May 16 coup had plotted with him a counter-revolution to overturn May 16.
This counter-revolutionary incident, which broke out at a time when the Park Chung-hee faction had not yet handed power over to civilian rule, caused a great shock. The incident arose from a conflict between a faction that held that "now that the military revolution has succeeded in its aims, the army should return to its proper duties," and the Park Chung-hee faction, which held that "now that the military revolution has succeeded, we should take off our uniforms and lead the government to strengthen the purpose of the military revolution." Park Chang-am, standing before the court, harshly denounced Park Chung-hee, Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, saying, "The aims of the revolution have been achieved, so the army should hand over power to fresh civilians as originally promised and return to its proper military duties."
The court sentenced Park to 13 years in prison, but a year later he was released through a pardon that exempted him from the sentence. He retired as a brigadier general in 1963. While he was in prison, Park Chung-hee retired as a general and ran for and won the 5th presidential election. As president, Park Chung-hee took measures to restore the civil rights of Park and others, along with a pardon. After his release from prison, Park Chang-am distanced himself from the Park Chung-hee government, and in 1968 he spent his own money to launch the monthly magazine Jayu in order to realize the philosophy he had long held, working as its publisher until 2002.
Until he was imprisoned in the counter-revolutionary incident, Park Chang-am's keyword had been anti-communism, but after the founding of Jayu, his main theme changed to "national history" (國史). The primary trigger should be sought in the fact that he grew up in Gando, and the secondary trigger is likely his encounter with Yi Yu-rip, who was then carrying out a movement to set national history right in the Daejeon area. Yi Yu-rip, whose spirit was in harmony with Park's, began contributing to Jayu in the mid-1970s. Through his writings in Jayu, Yi Yu-rip was able to present the perspective of the Minjok historiography (national-ethnic historiography).
In the 1990s, he also advanced the argument that "the May 16 forces should have completed the revolutionary pledges and handed over power to civilians as they had promised the people." After transforming into the publisher of the anti-communist magazine Jayu, he rarely contacted his former colleagues and devoted himself only to producing the magazine. He died on November 10, 2003.56
In 1949, returned to the military and was specially commissioned as a first lieutenant17
In 1950, promoted to army captain
During the Korean War, took part in the Battle of the Nakdong River, and during the northward advance served as commander of the reconnaissance battalion of the 8th Division. Afterwards he served in guerrilla units, including the Baekgol Unit and the East Coast Guerrilla Unit, also known as the Kirkland Unit1
In 1951, served in the 9172nd Unit, a special unit directly under Army Headquarters and the first regular special unit of the Republic of Korea; in 1953, graduated from the US Army Special Warfare School8
In 1952, as commander of the Rainbow Unit, a special unit directly under Army Headquarters, he led bandit suppression operations on Jeju Island.
During the 1961 May 16 military coup of Park Chung-hee, he played a major role in having military cadets march in support of the revolution, which greatly strengthened the coup forces. At that time his rank was army colonel.
After the coup succeeded, he served as chief of the Revolutionary Prosecution Office of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, which was responsible for national discipline renewal, including the detection and punishment of illicit wealth accumulators. He was promoted to brigadier general in January 1963 and retired from the army at the same time.
In 1963, he kept insisting that power should be handed over to civilians in accordance with the revolutionary pledges, and was then suddenly arrested together with Park Im-hang, Kim Dong-ha, and other core revolutionary leaders from Hamgyong Province on charges of counter-revolution. Referred to a military trial, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. After serving one year in prison, when the Democratic Republican Party's hold on power was confirmed, the charges were withdrawn and he was released through a pardon that exempted him from his sentence. He then lived farming in Uijeongbu.
Beginning in 1968, he spent his own money to publish the monthly magazine Jayu in order to foster anti-communist spirit and establish a Minjok historical perspective.
In 1976, together with Yi Yu-rip, Ahn Ho-sang, Yu Bong-yeong, Mun Jeong-chang, Park Si-in, Im Seung-guk, and others, he organized the Council for the Search for National History, opposing the academic mainstream and carrying out a movement to search for national history. He investigated and excavated historical sources on the Hwandan Gogi and made them known to the world.9
Under the Yushin regime, together with Im Seung-guk, he filed an administrative lawsuit against President Park Chung-hee seeking revision of national history textbooks. Afterward, Jayu became a foundation on which independent historians could publish their papers and arguments.
During this period, he generously supported the research and writing activities in Korea of John Carter Covell, an American historian of East Asian art who scholarly demonstrated from a cultural perspective that the origins of Japanese culture lie in Korea.10
In 1986, Standing Adviser and Party Affairs Committee member of the Korean National Party (January 1986)
In 1986, left his post as Standing Adviser and Party Affairs Committee member of the Korean National Party (June 1986)
Family and Relatives
Wife: Yi Gyeom-hui (李謙熙). His wife Yi Gyeom-hui was the daughter of Yi Sang-o, a hunter, and she was also a niece of independence activist Yi Sang-jeong, poet Yi Sang-hwa[1], and historian and sports figure Yi Sang-baek. She was a sixth-degree cousin of Yi Yeol-hui, a dentist and plastic surgeon who served as dean of the dental school at Kyungpook National University.
Father-in-law: Yi Sang-o (李相旿, 1905 – 1969. Hunter, Go master of the dan rank. Art name (雅號) Monam (慕南). Graduate of Woohyeon Higher Common School in Daegu, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and the Faculty of Law at Hosei University in Japan.)
Wife's paternal uncle: Yi Sang-jeong (李相定, June 10, 1897 – October 27, 1947. Independence activist. Art name (雅號) Cheongnam (晴南), Sanun (汕隱). The eldest older brother of Yi Sang-o (李相旿). Lieutenant general of the Korean Independence Army.)
Wife's uncle: Yi Sang-hwa (李相和, May 9, 1901 – April 25, 1943. Nationalpoet. Art name (雅號) Sanghwa (尙火, 想華), Muryang (無量), Baek-a (白啞). The second older brother of Yi Sang-o (李相旿).)
Wife's uncle: Yi Sang-baek (李相佰, August 6, 1904 – April 14, 1966. Historian and sports figure. Art name (雅號) Sangbaek (想白), Baekmuilje (百無一齋). The third older brother of Yi Sang-o (李相旿).)
Wife's great-grandfather's relative: Yi Il-u (李一雨), national movement activist and enlightenment thinker.
Sixth-degree cousin-in-law (brother-in-law): Yi Yeol-hui (李烈熙, December 18, 1924 – August 9, 2012), dentist and plastic surgeon, professor at the College of Medicine of Kyungpook National University, first and second dean of the College of Dentistry.
Sixth-degree cousin-in-law (co-brother-in-law): Seo Jeong-gwi (徐廷貴, 1919 – 1974), member of the National Assembly for the 4th and 5th terms, Vice Minister of Finance (1960), former president of Honam Oil Company.
Education
Graduated from the Yanji Normal School, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province, Manchukuo
In 1980, in the magazine Jayu that he published, he raised the allegation that Lee Gap-seong had been a Japanese informant. In 1980, Jo Gyeong-han (曺擎韓), a former member of the Provisional Government's State Council, summoned Park Chang-am and claimed that Lee Gap-seong had served as a Japanese informant, saying, "I need to reveal this, but do you have the courage?" Park Chang-am agreed to Jo Gyeong-han's request.
Based on Jo Gyeong-han's statement, it was published in the monthly Jayu, and Lee Gap-seong, from his sickbed, filed a lawsuit, but he died during the trial without seeing its outcome, and the lawsuit was dropped. Later, Yun Chi-yeong visited him and praised him for accomplishing what several people together could not have resolved.
The controversy over Lee Gap-seong's pro-Japanese past was, for a time, raised by other independence activists, including Jo Gyeong-han and Yi Kang-hun, who alleged that he had turned to the Japanese side and even served as an informant. However, after investigating his concrete activities, it was confirmed that the content of the accusations did not match the facts. The misunderstanding very likely arose from a rumor about a similarly named informant who had appeared in Shanghai in the 1940s, which spread and became distorted.111213
'Post-Liberation Gwangbokgun' and the Secret Operative Theory of Park Chung-hee
There is a theory that Park Chung-hee secretly engaged in Gwangbokgun activities while serving in the Manchukuo Army, but Shin Hyeon-jun, who had served together with Park Chung-hee, testified that he had been completely unaware of the very existence of the Gwangbokgun until he moved to Beijing after liberation. Shin Hyeon-jun's testimony is used as an important rebuttal to the theory of Park's secret Gwangbokgun membership.14
Immediately after liberation, many Korean young men, including Gwangbokgun veterans and student soldiers, gathered in Beijing. Their number reached roughly 400, and among them were Shin Hyeon-jun, a former Manchukuo Army captain, and Park Chung-hee, a former first lieutenant and later president. The Provisional Government sent Choi Yong-deok, head of the Northeast Office of Affairs (辦事處), to arrange temporary housing for them. It then temporarily placed them under the command of Kim Hak-gyu, commander of the 3rd Unit of the Gwangbokgun. At that time, Shin Hyeon-jun and Park Chung-hee, recognized for their service as Manchukuo Army officers, were respectively placed in charge of the 1st Battalion and the 2nd Company of the 3rd Unit. All of them were "post-liberation Gwangbokgun."15
Japanese army officers with higher education, like Park Chung-hee, were actively incorporated into the Gwangbokgun in accordance with the policy of the Korean Independence Party that "Korean soldiers from the Japanese army should be actively incorporated into the Gwangbokgun (to expand power)." According to the paper "The Expansion Activities of the Gwangbokgun by the Korean Independence Party in Chinese Inland Areas after Liberation" written by Yeom In-ho, professor of history at the University of Seoul, the numbers of soldiers recruited after liberation were "about 1,300 in Beijing, about 800 in Nanjing, and about 1,300 in Shanghai," among others.16
The Gwangbokgun unit to which Park Chung-hee belonged was probably the Beiping Zhanbian Detachment, though some testimony calls it the Zhuping-jin Battalion (駐平津大隊) of the 3rd Unit. "Pingjin" is a term derived from Beiping and Tianjin. The battalion commander of this unit was Shin Hyeon-jun, who had served with Park Chung-hee, and Shin recalled that he had not known of the existence of the Gwangbokgun before liberation. This unit was not really a Gwangbokgun unit, but rather, in response to the sudden change in circumstances brought by liberation, was given a unit name by the Gwangbokgun to expand its strength, and was in practice a kind of prisoner-of-war holding unit. The fact that the Chinese agency that managed these units was the Prisoner Management Office (俘虜管理處) also proves this.17
This was used as the basis for the novel Gwangbokgun (by Park Yeong-man), which described Park Chung-hee as a secret operative of the Gwangbokgun before the Japanese defeat. However, this is not true. The witness was Yi Yong (李龍), who was known before liberation as Yi Jip-yong (李集龍). He was the only person who testified properly about the Gando Special Unit. The claim that Park Chung-hee and Shin Hyeon-jun were secret Gwangbokgun members, who received the order from Gwangbokgun General Kim Hak-gyu to "attack the Japanese army at an appropriate time" and in July 1945 returned from Beijing to the Cheolseok Unit, is said to be a lie.18
Based on the novel Gwangbokgun, many false pieces of information circulated. They also appear in Creation of the Army Chronicle (창군전사), published by Army Headquarters, and in Graduates of the Military Academy (육사 졸업생) published by Jang Chang-guk.
"Officers who had been in Manchuria had their own underground organizations. Park Chung-hee, Shin Hyeon-jun, Lee Ju-il, and others were secret Gwangbokgun members of the Gwangbokgun 3rd Unit, and liberation came just before their uprising." (Creation of the Army Chronicle, published by Army Headquarters, p. 265)
Besides Creation of the Army Chronicle, there are other books that depict Park Chung-hee as a secret Gwangbokgun member. The idea began to spread when Jang Chang-guk (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, deceased), who had served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a National Assembly member under the Park Chung-hee government, asserted the "secret Gwangbokgun operative theory" in his 1984 book Graduates of the Military Academy. At that time, Jang wrote in his book that "when the Shinthaeyang Opera Troupe went to entertain the 'Cheolseok Unit,' Yi Yong-gi, a secret Gwangbokgun member disguised as a menial worker of the troupe, contacted Park Chung-hee and made him a secret Gwangbokgun member."
However, all of this is fabricated. The unit, known as the "Cheolseok Unit" after its commander's name, began in 1939 at Myeongwolgu as a Korean independence battalion, and Park Chung-hee never went to this unit. Park Chang-am (retired brigadier general, deceased) and Song Seok-ha (retired major general, deceased), both veterans of the Cheolseok Unit, testified during their lifetimes that "Park Chung-hee never even came to the gate of the Cheolseok Unit."
Also, the composer Son Mok-in (deceased), who served as director of the "Shinthaeyang Opera Troupe," testified during his lifetime that "I went to entertain the army a few times, but I have never heard of the Cheolseok Unit, and I cannot recall the name Yi Yong-gi." In addition, the singer Shin Kanaria and film actor Hwang Hae, who were members of the troupe, also testified in 1997 that "I have no memory of the name Yi Yong-gi."19
Jang Jun-ha, a Gwangbokgun veteran, became furious at the novel Gwangbokgun (by Park Yeong-man), which was published in 1967 to coincide with the presidential election. It had turned the pro-Japanese Park Chung-hee into a secret Gwangbokgun member. In 1967, he supported opposition presidential candidate Yun Bo-seon and toured the country, persistently criticizing the book. Go Sang-man's book Jang Jun-ha as Recorded by the KCIA also mentions this. "There is a book written by someone in certain quarters now claiming that presidential candidate Park Chung-hee was a Gwangbokgun member, but all of it is a lie. I am a Gwangbokgun member, so I know exactly. At that time, he was serving as a Japanese army officer in Manchuria." In response to these remarks, the Central Intelligence Agency at that time recorded each of Jang Jun-ha's statements in its important situation reports.20
Kim Seung-gon, former chairman of the Gwangbokhoe (Restoration Association) who was relatively well informed about the situation at the time, testified that "Park Yeong-man wrote Gwangbokgun expecting to receive money from the Blue House, but when President Park skimmed through the contents he got angry, saying, 'How could I be a Gwangbokgun member? Who told you to write such nonsense?' In the end, Park Yeong-man did not receive a single penny, and he could not even hold the elaborately prepared book launch."21
The following is the testimony of Lee Jong-chan, former National Assembly member who worked at the Central Intelligence Agency when the novel Gwangbokgun was published. "This is something I actually experienced. In 1967–68, an order came down to the Central Intelligence Agency saying, 'Collect all copies of the book Gwangbokgun (by Park Yeong-man).' After laboriously collecting the books and examining them, we found that the content was that 'Park Chung-hee engaged in Gwangbokgun activities.' President Park read it and said, 'We must not tell such lies. After liberation, Kim Hak-gyu, commander of the Gwangbokgun 3rd Unit, gathered Korean nationals who had been in Manchuria. At that time, I briefly served as a squad leader and trained enlisted men. It is nonsense to say that I was an independence army member during the Japanese colonial period, as Jang Jun-ha and Kim Jun-yeop did, since this was after liberation. That is why I ordered that the books be collected.'"22
There is also material indicating that, far from being a "post-liberation Gwangbokgun" member, Park Chung-hee was in fact arrested while wandering the streets and repatriated to Korea. According to the homepage of Kim Hong-sin, "The Fabrication of Park Chung-hee's Enlistment in the Gwangbokgun," Yi Jae-hyeon (father of Yi Hyeong-jin), a Gwangbokgun veteran and anti-Japanese fighter, was the head of the Beiping Office of Affairs (Gwangbokgun major / regional commander). When Japan collapsed, the 8th Division of the Manchukuo Army, to which Park Chung-hee belonged, was disbanded, and Yi Jae-hyeon is said to be the official responsible for arresting Park Chung-hee, who had come out to Beijing and was wandering the streets, and repatriating him to Korea. At that time, the mission of the Beiping Office of Affairs was to repatriate Chinese-resident Koreans and Japanese soldiers holding Korean nationality to their homeland. Because there were too many former Japanese army soldiers, it was necessary to organize them, so Shin Hyeon-jun, a former Japanese army captain, was made battalion commander, and Lee Ju-il and Park Chung-hee, former Japanese army lieutenants, were made company commanders to lead them and repatriate them to their homeland. The claim that Park Chung-hee was incorporated into the Gwangbokgun 3rd Unit is said to be wrong. This content was written as a rebuttal to an article submitted on August 26, 2004 to the JoongAng Ilbo by Lee Jong-chan, former director of the National Intelligence Service.23
Related Literature
Yang Jong-hyeon, Hundred Years' Journey: A Biography of the Authentic Historian Hanamdang Yi Yu-rip (Sangsaeng Publishing, 2009)
Jeong Yong-seok, Expectations and Frustrations of the Sunshine Policy (Jayusa, 1999)
“박정희 광복군편입은 허위날조”. 김홍신 홈페이지. August 29, 2004. Archived on September 26, 2020 from the original. Retrieved September 6, 2019. ↩
Park Chang-am (朴蒼巖, May 15, 1923 – November 10, 2003) was a South Korean armysoldier, politician, historian, journalist, and writer who had served as a non-commissioned officer in the Manchukuo Army's Gando Special Unit. So strong was his conviction in recovering the territories of Goguryeo and Gojoseon, including Gando, that he chose "Manchuria" as his art name. He mainly used the name Manchuria (滿洲), though he occasionally used Heoju (虛舟) and Nongbu (農夫).1 In 1968, he spent his own money to launch the monthly magazine Jayu (‘자유’).
Biography
He was of the Miryang lineage (密陽). He was born in Pukchong, South Hamgyong Province, and in his early childhood he briefly lived in Tanchon, South Hamgyong Province.23 After graduating from the Manchukuo National Yanji (Gando) Normal School, he worked as a teacher at Joyangcheon Elementary School in Gando, and in 1943 he enlisted in the Gando Special Unit, a Manchukuo military force. The Gando Special Unit was a special-purpose anti-guerrilla unit formed to suppress the socialist anti-Japanese national liberation forces in northern Manchukuo, namely the Eighth Route Army, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, and the Korean Volunteers Corps, as well as the that remained in northwestern Manchuria. The Gando Special Unit killed 172 anti-Japanese armed fighters and civilians. Many were also subjected to rape, plunder, and torture.
After liberation, he taught at Hyeopsin Industrial School in Pyongyang before moving to Seoul, and in 1949 he was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the army and went on to fight in the Korean War. During the war, he mainly took part in operations against partisans and in psychological warfare against North Korea. During the Korean War he served as commander of the reconnaissance company of the 8th Division, commander of the East Sea Guerrilla Unit, and commander of an army special unit, and in 1960 he served as commandant of cadets at the Korea Military Academy. What brought him public attention was his participation in the May 16 military coup led by Major General Park Chung-hee in 1961. Together with Park Chung-hee, Chang Do-yeong, and others, he took part in the May 16 military coup, but he was purged following the Alaska bandit suppression operation. He retired from the army as a brigadier general. He took part in the May 16 coup as a member of its core forces and served as head of the "Revolutionary Prosecution Office," a fearsome body that purged the corruption of the former regime.
While serving as chief of the Revolutionary Prosecution Office, he also arrested Chang Do-yeong, chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, on charges of counter-revolutionary conspiracy and referred him to a military trial. However, after he left the post of chief of the Revolutionary Prosecution Office in February 1963 and retired as a brigadier general, he himself was arrested on charges of counter-revolution, experiencing a "reversal of fortune." On March 11, 1963, the Central Intelligence Agency, led by Kim Jae-chun, announced that he was a person involved in a counter-revolutionary incident. The Central Intelligence Agency announced that Kim Dong-ha, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general who had led the Marine Corps with Major General Park Chung-hee across the Han River Bridge on the day of May 16 and succeeded in the coup, Park Im-hang, a retired army lieutenant general, Yi Gyu-gwang, a retired army brigadier general (the uncle of Lee Soon-ja, wife of former President Chun Doo-hwan), and other core members of the May 16 coup had plotted with him a counter-revolution to overturn May 16.
This counter-revolutionary incident, which broke out at a time when the Park Chung-hee faction had not yet handed power over to civilian rule, caused a great shock. The incident arose from a conflict between a faction that held that "now that the military revolution has succeeded in its aims, the army should return to its proper duties," and the Park Chung-hee faction, which held that "now that the military revolution has succeeded, we should take off our uniforms and lead the government to strengthen the purpose of the military revolution." Park Chang-am, standing before the court, harshly denounced Park Chung-hee, Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, saying, "The aims of the revolution have been achieved, so the army should hand over power to fresh civilians as originally promised and return to its proper military duties."
The court sentenced Park to 13 years in prison, but a year later he was released through a pardon that exempted him from the sentence. He retired as a brigadier general in 1963. While he was in prison, Park Chung-hee retired as a general and ran for and won the 5th presidential election. As president, Park Chung-hee took measures to restore the civil rights of Park and others, along with a pardon. After his release from prison, Park Chang-am distanced himself from the Park Chung-hee government, and in 1968 he spent his own money to launch the monthly magazine Jayu in order to realize the philosophy he had long held, working as its publisher until 2002.
Until he was imprisoned in the counter-revolutionary incident, Park Chang-am's keyword had been anti-communism, but after the founding of Jayu, his main theme changed to "national history" (國史). The primary trigger should be sought in the fact that he grew up in Gando, and the secondary trigger is likely his encounter with Yi Yu-rip, who was then carrying out a movement to set national history right in the Daejeon area. Yi Yu-rip, whose spirit was in harmony with Park's, began contributing to Jayu in the mid-1970s. Through his writings in Jayu, Yi Yu-rip was able to present the perspective of the Minjok historiography (national-ethnic historiography).
In the 1990s, he also advanced the argument that "the May 16 forces should have completed the revolutionary pledges and handed over power to civilians as they had promised the people." After transforming into the publisher of the anti-communist magazine Jayu, he rarely contacted his former colleagues and devoted himself only to producing the magazine. He died on November 10, 2003.56
In 1949, returned to the military and was specially commissioned as a first lieutenant17
In 1950, promoted to army captain
During the Korean War, took part in the Battle of the Nakdong River, and during the northward advance served as commander of the reconnaissance battalion of the 8th Division. Afterwards he served in guerrilla units, including the Baekgol Unit and the East Coast Guerrilla Unit, also known as the Kirkland Unit1
In 1951, served in the 9172nd Unit, a special unit directly under Army Headquarters and the first regular special unit of the Republic of Korea; in 1953, graduated from the US Army Special Warfare School8
In 1952, as commander of the Rainbow Unit, a special unit directly under Army Headquarters, he led bandit suppression operations on Jeju Island.
During the 1961 May 16 military coup of Park Chung-hee, he played a major role in having military cadets march in support of the revolution, which greatly strengthened the coup forces. At that time his rank was army colonel.
After the coup succeeded, he served as chief of the Revolutionary Prosecution Office of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, which was responsible for national discipline renewal, including the detection and punishment of illicit wealth accumulators. He was promoted to brigadier general in January 1963 and retired from the army at the same time.
In 1963, he kept insisting that power should be handed over to civilians in accordance with the revolutionary pledges, and was then suddenly arrested together with Park Im-hang, Kim Dong-ha, and other core revolutionary leaders from Hamgyong Province on charges of counter-revolution. Referred to a military trial, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. After serving one year in prison, when the Democratic Republican Party's hold on power was confirmed, the charges were withdrawn and he was released through a pardon that exempted him from his sentence. He then lived farming in Uijeongbu.
Beginning in 1968, he spent his own money to publish the monthly magazine Jayu in order to foster anti-communist spirit and establish a Minjok historical perspective.
In 1976, together with Yi Yu-rip, Ahn Ho-sang, Yu Bong-yeong, Mun Jeong-chang, Park Si-in, Im Seung-guk, and others, he organized the Council for the Search for National History, opposing the academic mainstream and carrying out a movement to search for national history. He investigated and excavated historical sources on the Hwandan Gogi and made them known to the world.9
Under the Yushin regime, together with Im Seung-guk, he filed an administrative lawsuit against President Park Chung-hee seeking revision of national history textbooks. Afterward, Jayu became a foundation on which independent historians could publish their papers and arguments.
During this period, he generously supported the research and writing activities in Korea of John Carter Covell, an American historian of East Asian art who scholarly demonstrated from a cultural perspective that the origins of Japanese culture lie in Korea.10
In 1986, Standing Adviser and Party Affairs Committee member of the Korean National Party (January 1986)
In 1986, left his post as Standing Adviser and Party Affairs Committee member of the Korean National Party (June 1986)
Family and Relatives
Wife: Yi Gyeom-hui (李謙熙). His wife Yi Gyeom-hui was the daughter of Yi Sang-o, a hunter, and she was also a niece of independence activist Yi Sang-jeong, poet Yi Sang-hwa[1], and historian and sports figure Yi Sang-baek. She was a sixth-degree cousin of Yi Yeol-hui, a dentist and plastic surgeon who served as dean of the dental school at Kyungpook National University.
Father-in-law: Yi Sang-o (李相旿, 1905 – 1969. Hunter, Go master of the dan rank. Art name (雅號) Monam (慕南). Graduate of Woohyeon Higher Common School in Daegu, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and the Faculty of Law at Hosei University in Japan.)
Wife's paternal uncle: Yi Sang-jeong (李相定, June 10, 1897 – October 27, 1947. Independence activist. Art name (雅號) Cheongnam (晴南), Sanun (汕隱). The eldest older brother of Yi Sang-o (李相旿). Lieutenant general of the Korean Independence Army.)
Wife's uncle: Yi Sang-hwa (李相和, May 9, 1901 – April 25, 1943. Nationalpoet. Art name (雅號) Sanghwa (尙火, 想華), Muryang (無量), Baek-a (白啞). The second older brother of Yi Sang-o (李相旿).)
Wife's uncle: Yi Sang-baek (李相佰, August 6, 1904 – April 14, 1966. Historian and sports figure. Art name (雅號) Sangbaek (想白), Baekmuilje (百無一齋). The third older brother of Yi Sang-o (李相旿).)
Wife's great-grandfather's relative: Yi Il-u (李一雨), national movement activist and enlightenment thinker.
Sixth-degree cousin-in-law (brother-in-law): Yi Yeol-hui (李烈熙, December 18, 1924 – August 9, 2012), dentist and plastic surgeon, professor at the College of Medicine of Kyungpook National University, first and second dean of the College of Dentistry.
Sixth-degree cousin-in-law (co-brother-in-law): Seo Jeong-gwi (徐廷貴, 1919 – 1974), member of the National Assembly for the 4th and 5th terms, Vice Minister of Finance (1960), former president of Honam Oil Company.
Education
Graduated from the Yanji Normal School, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province, Manchukuo
In 1980, in the magazine Jayu that he published, he raised the allegation that Lee Gap-seong had been a Japanese informant. In 1980, Jo Gyeong-han (曺擎韓), a former member of the Provisional Government's State Council, summoned Park Chang-am and claimed that Lee Gap-seong had served as a Japanese informant, saying, "I need to reveal this, but do you have the courage?" Park Chang-am agreed to Jo Gyeong-han's request.
Based on Jo Gyeong-han's statement, it was published in the monthly Jayu, and Lee Gap-seong, from his sickbed, filed a lawsuit, but he died during the trial without seeing its outcome, and the lawsuit was dropped. Later, Yun Chi-yeong visited him and praised him for accomplishing what several people together could not have resolved.
The controversy over Lee Gap-seong's pro-Japanese past was, for a time, raised by other independence activists, including Jo Gyeong-han and Yi Kang-hun, who alleged that he had turned to the Japanese side and even served as an informant. However, after investigating his concrete activities, it was confirmed that the content of the accusations did not match the facts. The misunderstanding very likely arose from a rumor about a similarly named informant who had appeared in Shanghai in the 1940s, which spread and became distorted.111213
'Post-Liberation Gwangbokgun' and the Secret Operative Theory of Park Chung-hee
There is a theory that Park Chung-hee secretly engaged in Gwangbokgun activities while serving in the Manchukuo Army, but Shin Hyeon-jun, who had served together with Park Chung-hee, testified that he had been completely unaware of the very existence of the Gwangbokgun until he moved to Beijing after liberation. Shin Hyeon-jun's testimony is used as an important rebuttal to the theory of Park's secret Gwangbokgun membership.14
Immediately after liberation, many Korean young men, including Gwangbokgun veterans and student soldiers, gathered in Beijing. Their number reached roughly 400, and among them were Shin Hyeon-jun, a former Manchukuo Army captain, and Park Chung-hee, a former first lieutenant and later president. The Provisional Government sent Choi Yong-deok, head of the Northeast Office of Affairs (辦事處), to arrange temporary housing for them. It then temporarily placed them under the command of Kim Hak-gyu, commander of the 3rd Unit of the Gwangbokgun. At that time, Shin Hyeon-jun and Park Chung-hee, recognized for their service as Manchukuo Army officers, were respectively placed in charge of the 1st Battalion and the 2nd Company of the 3rd Unit. All of them were "post-liberation Gwangbokgun."15
Japanese army officers with higher education, like Park Chung-hee, were actively incorporated into the Gwangbokgun in accordance with the policy of the Korean Independence Party that "Korean soldiers from the Japanese army should be actively incorporated into the Gwangbokgun (to expand power)." According to the paper "The Expansion Activities of the Gwangbokgun by the Korean Independence Party in Chinese Inland Areas after Liberation" written by Yeom In-ho, professor of history at the University of Seoul, the numbers of soldiers recruited after liberation were "about 1,300 in Beijing, about 800 in Nanjing, and about 1,300 in Shanghai," among others.16
The Gwangbokgun unit to which Park Chung-hee belonged was probably the Beiping Zhanbian Detachment, though some testimony calls it the Zhuping-jin Battalion (駐平津大隊) of the 3rd Unit. "Pingjin" is a term derived from Beiping and Tianjin. The battalion commander of this unit was Shin Hyeon-jun, who had served with Park Chung-hee, and Shin recalled that he had not known of the existence of the Gwangbokgun before liberation. This unit was not really a Gwangbokgun unit, but rather, in response to the sudden change in circumstances brought by liberation, was given a unit name by the Gwangbokgun to expand its strength, and was in practice a kind of prisoner-of-war holding unit. The fact that the Chinese agency that managed these units was the Prisoner Management Office (俘虜管理處) also proves this.17
This was used as the basis for the novel Gwangbokgun (by Park Yeong-man), which described Park Chung-hee as a secret operative of the Gwangbokgun before the Japanese defeat. However, this is not true. The witness was Yi Yong (李龍), who was known before liberation as Yi Jip-yong (李集龍). He was the only person who testified properly about the Gando Special Unit. The claim that Park Chung-hee and Shin Hyeon-jun were secret Gwangbokgun members, who received the order from Gwangbokgun General Kim Hak-gyu to "attack the Japanese army at an appropriate time" and in July 1945 returned from Beijing to the Cheolseok Unit, is said to be a lie.18
Based on the novel Gwangbokgun, many false pieces of information circulated. They also appear in Creation of the Army Chronicle (창군전사), published by Army Headquarters, and in Graduates of the Military Academy (육사 졸업생) published by Jang Chang-guk.
"Officers who had been in Manchuria had their own underground organizations. Park Chung-hee, Shin Hyeon-jun, Lee Ju-il, and others were secret Gwangbokgun members of the Gwangbokgun 3rd Unit, and liberation came just before their uprising." (Creation of the Army Chronicle, published by Army Headquarters, p. 265)
Besides Creation of the Army Chronicle, there are other books that depict Park Chung-hee as a secret Gwangbokgun member. The idea began to spread when Jang Chang-guk (former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, deceased), who had served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a National Assembly member under the Park Chung-hee government, asserted the "secret Gwangbokgun operative theory" in his 1984 book Graduates of the Military Academy. At that time, Jang wrote in his book that "when the Shinthaeyang Opera Troupe went to entertain the 'Cheolseok Unit,' Yi Yong-gi, a secret Gwangbokgun member disguised as a menial worker of the troupe, contacted Park Chung-hee and made him a secret Gwangbokgun member."
However, all of this is fabricated. The unit, known as the "Cheolseok Unit" after its commander's name, began in 1939 at Myeongwolgu as a Korean independence battalion, and Park Chung-hee never went to this unit. Park Chang-am (retired brigadier general, deceased) and Song Seok-ha (retired major general, deceased), both veterans of the Cheolseok Unit, testified during their lifetimes that "Park Chung-hee never even came to the gate of the Cheolseok Unit."
Also, the composer Son Mok-in (deceased), who served as director of the "Shinthaeyang Opera Troupe," testified during his lifetime that "I went to entertain the army a few times, but I have never heard of the Cheolseok Unit, and I cannot recall the name Yi Yong-gi." In addition, the singer Shin Kanaria and film actor Hwang Hae, who were members of the troupe, also testified in 1997 that "I have no memory of the name Yi Yong-gi."19
Jang Jun-ha, a Gwangbokgun veteran, became furious at the novel Gwangbokgun (by Park Yeong-man), which was published in 1967 to coincide with the presidential election. It had turned the pro-Japanese Park Chung-hee into a secret Gwangbokgun member. In 1967, he supported opposition presidential candidate Yun Bo-seon and toured the country, persistently criticizing the book. Go Sang-man's book Jang Jun-ha as Recorded by the KCIA also mentions this. "There is a book written by someone in certain quarters now claiming that presidential candidate Park Chung-hee was a Gwangbokgun member, but all of it is a lie. I am a Gwangbokgun member, so I know exactly. At that time, he was serving as a Japanese army officer in Manchuria." In response to these remarks, the Central Intelligence Agency at that time recorded each of Jang Jun-ha's statements in its important situation reports.20
Kim Seung-gon, former chairman of the Gwangbokhoe (Restoration Association) who was relatively well informed about the situation at the time, testified that "Park Yeong-man wrote Gwangbokgun expecting to receive money from the Blue House, but when President Park skimmed through the contents he got angry, saying, 'How could I be a Gwangbokgun member? Who told you to write such nonsense?' In the end, Park Yeong-man did not receive a single penny, and he could not even hold the elaborately prepared book launch."21
The following is the testimony of Lee Jong-chan, former National Assembly member who worked at the Central Intelligence Agency when the novel Gwangbokgun was published. "This is something I actually experienced. In 1967–68, an order came down to the Central Intelligence Agency saying, 'Collect all copies of the book Gwangbokgun (by Park Yeong-man).' After laboriously collecting the books and examining them, we found that the content was that 'Park Chung-hee engaged in Gwangbokgun activities.' President Park read it and said, 'We must not tell such lies. After liberation, Kim Hak-gyu, commander of the Gwangbokgun 3rd Unit, gathered Korean nationals who had been in Manchuria. At that time, I briefly served as a squad leader and trained enlisted men. It is nonsense to say that I was an independence army member during the Japanese colonial period, as Jang Jun-ha and Kim Jun-yeop did, since this was after liberation. That is why I ordered that the books be collected.'"22
There is also material indicating that, far from being a "post-liberation Gwangbokgun" member, Park Chung-hee was in fact arrested while wandering the streets and repatriated to Korea. According to the homepage of Kim Hong-sin, "The Fabrication of Park Chung-hee's Enlistment in the Gwangbokgun," Yi Jae-hyeon (father of Yi Hyeong-jin), a Gwangbokgun veteran and anti-Japanese fighter, was the head of the Beiping Office of Affairs (Gwangbokgun major / regional commander). When Japan collapsed, the 8th Division of the Manchukuo Army, to which Park Chung-hee belonged, was disbanded, and Yi Jae-hyeon is said to be the official responsible for arresting Park Chung-hee, who had come out to Beijing and was wandering the streets, and repatriating him to Korea. At that time, the mission of the Beiping Office of Affairs was to repatriate Chinese-resident Koreans and Japanese soldiers holding Korean nationality to their homeland. Because there were too many former Japanese army soldiers, it was necessary to organize them, so Shin Hyeon-jun, a former Japanese army captain, was made battalion commander, and Lee Ju-il and Park Chung-hee, former Japanese army lieutenants, were made company commanders to lead them and repatriate them to their homeland. The claim that Park Chung-hee was incorporated into the Gwangbokgun 3rd Unit is said to be wrong. This content was written as a rebuttal to an article submitted on August 26, 2004 to the JoongAng Ilbo by Lee Jong-chan, former director of the National Intelligence Service.23
Related Literature
Yang Jong-hyeon, Hundred Years' Journey: A Biography of the Authentic Historian Hanamdang Yi Yu-rip (Sangsaeng Publishing, 2009)
Jeong Yong-seok, Expectations and Frustrations of the Sunshine Policy (Jayusa, 1999)