Seo Chun

Seo Chun (徐椿; Japanese name: 大川慈種 Ōkawa Jishu, also 大川豊注 Ōkawa Hōchū; 24 November 1894 – 5 April 1944) was a Korean journalist. He took part in the February 8 Declaration of Independence as an independence activist, but later turned to collaboration with Japan as a pro-Japanese journalist. His pen name was Obong (五峰).

Life

He graduated from Osan School in Chŏngju, North P'yŏngan Province, and went to study in Japan, where he studied at the Tokyo Higher Normal School. While he was enrolled at Kyoto Imperial University in 1919, he participated in the February 8 Declaration of Independence in Tokyo, which triggered the March 1 Movement, as one of the eleven members of the executive committee and one of the nine representatives. He was arrested in this incident, sentenced to nine months in prison, and served his sentence. Kim Do-tae and Kim Ji-hwan, who took part in the March 1 Movement, were his seniors at Osan School. Seo Chun was also the person who, at the end of 1918, relayed the movements of the Tokyo student community to Yi Sung-hun, the founder of Osan School, providing the occasion for Yi Sung-hun to plan the March 1 Movement. However, after his release from prison, he became, together with Yi Kwang-su, a representative turncoat among the participants of the February 8 Declaration of Independence. After returning home, he served as an economics reporter for the Dong-a Ilbo in 1927 and the Chosun Ilbo in 1932, working as an economics expert. After the Second Sino-Japanese War began, he wrote pro-government commentaries praising the wartime economic policies of the Empire of Japan, and contributed to pro-Japanese magazines such as Chogwang. In particular, while serving as chief editor of the , the official newspaper of the , he engaged in pro-Japanese activities through lectures and contributions as a lecturer of the Broadcasting Propaganda Council, a committee member of the , and a council member of the . In 1940, he also founded the pro-Japanese magazine (太陽), published in . He died of on 5 April 1944.