Yi Yu-pil

Yi Yu-pil (Lee Yu-pil, 28 November 1885 – 29 November 1945) was a Korean independence activist and politician during the Japanese colonial period. His pen name was Chunsan (春山). His clan seat was Gyeongju. His father was Yi Gye-cho (李啓初).

Life

Independence movement

In the early 1900s, he joined and was active in the secret society New People's Association (新民會, Sinminhoe), organized by An Chang-ho, Jeon Deok-gi, Yang Gi-tak, and others. In 1912, he was arrested in the 105-Person Incident, a fabricated case by the Japanese government aimed at suppressing Korean independence activists, tried, sentenced to exile, and banished to Jindo for one year.

When the March 1st Movement broke out in 1919, he led independence rally demonstrations in Uiju, North Pyongan Province, and other areas, and then fled to Shanghai (上海).

Activities in the Provisional Government

In 1919 he took part in the founding of the Provisional Legislative Assembly, and in April he served as Secretary General of the Home Affairs Department of the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai. Together with Yi Gwang-su and others, he led the founding of the Provisional Government's official newspaper, Independent News (獨立新聞). In 1920 he set up the Provisional Government's Propaganda Committee with An Chang-ho, and in August of that year he visited the members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives to appeal for Korean independence. In April 1921, with the aim of having Korea and China mutually assist each other and jointly respond to the struggle against Japan, he took part in establishing the Korea-China Mutual Assistance Society (韓中互助社) together with the Chinese Wu Shan (吳山) and others.

In 1922, together with Kim Gu, Son Jung-do, Yo Un-hyeong, Jo Dong-ho, and others, he organized the Korean Labor Army Association (韓國勞兵會) and became its director of finance. In 1926, when Kim Gu resigned as chairman of the Labor Army Association, he assumed the chairmanship as his successor. In August 1923 he was elected head of the Korean Residents' Association in Shanghai and concurrently served as principal of the In-seong School (仁成學校) operated by the association. He then founded and published the magazine Minseong (民聲) and others.

On 16 December 1924 he became Minister of Home Affairs of the Provisional Government, and in October 1925 he became a member of the State Council and Minister of Finance. In January 1930, aiming at unifying the independence struggle front, he took part in founding and organizing the (韓國獨立黨) together with , , and others, and was elected as its general affairs director. After the Lee Bong-chang and Yun Bong-gil operations, in March 1933 he was arrested in by the Japanese consulate police, repatriated to the Korean Peninsula, and sentenced to three years in prison by the Sinuiju District Court.