Yun Gi-seop (尹琦燮, 1887 – 1959) was a Korean independence activist and politician.
Life
Yun Gi-seop was born on April 4, 1887, in Masan-ri, Paepyeong-myeon, Paju, Gyeonggi Province, as the second son of Yun Gi-yeong (尹耆榮). He was a descendant of Baeksa Yun Hwon, the third son of Oeum Yun Du-su. The maternal family of Empress Sunmyeong descended from Yun Bang, the elder brother of Yun Hwon, while Yun Chi-ho and Yun Bo-seon were descendants of Yun Heun, the second elder brother of Yun Hwon, and were distant relatives.
In 1908 (Yunghui 2), he took part in the organization of the Youth Friendship Society together with Ahn Chang-ho, Yun Chi-ho, Park Jung-hwa, Choi Nam-seon, Kim Jwa-jin, Yang Ki-tak, and others, and in 1909 (Yunghui 3) he went into exile in the Dongsansheng of China. In the spring of 1911 he became dean of studies at the Sinheung Military Academy and later its principal, guiding the training of independence army soldiers. In 1912 he joined and was active in the Buminddan (扶民團), organized as the successor of the Gyeonghaksa (耕學社), and in early 1919 he took part in the organization of the Hanjok Association (한족회) in Western Jiandao of Manchuria, becoming head of its Education Department.
In April 1919, at the request of the Shanghai Provisional Government, he went to Shanghai. In 1920 he was appointed instructor at the Army Military Academy under the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and in June 1920 he served as a member of the Provisional Assembly, as Vice Minister of Military Affairs of the State Council of the Provisional Government, and in February 1924 as Speaker of the Provisional Assembly. In December 1926 he served as Minister of Military Affairs in the State Council of the Provisional Government, and in March 1927 he joined the Korean Nationalist Party.
In April 1932 he took part in the Anti-Japanese Front Unification League, and in 1935, together with Kim Kyu-sik, Ji Cheong-cheon, and others, he organized the Minjok Revolutionary Party and took part in the movement for a unified national party. At that time he participated as representative of the Korean Revolutionary Party. In 1940 he re-entered the Provisional Government as a member of the State Council, and in March 1943 he became Vice Minister of Military Affairs of the Provisional Government.
On November 23, 1945, he returned to Korea as part of the second group of Provisional Government officials, and afterward was active as a right-wing politician. In October 1946 he ran for and was elected to the Provisional Legislative Assembly, and in December, when the Provisional Legislative Assembly was opened, he became its vice speaker. In 1948 he ran for the First National Assembly of the First Republic but lost, and in May 1950 he ran in the Second National Assembly general election and was elected. While serving as a member of the Second National Assembly, the Korean War broke out and he was abducted to North Korea; in early 1959 he was purged in a factional purge and died of illness.
Career summary
Born in Masan-ri, Paepyeong-myeon, Paju, Gyeonggi Province, he graduated from Boseong Middle School.
- 1919: Took part in the March 1st Movement, and afterward went into exile in the Republic of China to carry on independence activities.
- 1922: Member of the Party Affairs Committee and Basic Administrative Autonomy Committee of the Korean Independence Party.
- 1931: Member of the Party Affairs Committee and Administrative Solidarity Committee of the Korean Independence Party.
- 1941: Retired from the posts of Member of the Party Affairs Committee and Administrative Solidarity Committee of the Korean Independence Party and left the Korean Independence Party.
- 1943: Served as a member of the Chongqing Provisional Government Assembly and as a standing member of the Korean Democratic Revolutionary Party.
- February 1946: Returned to Korea.
- December 1946: Served as Eastern Speaker of the South Korean Provisional Legislative Assembly.
- March 1948: Appointed by Major General William F. Dean of the U.S. Army Military Government as a member of the Central Election Committee to administer the May 10 General Election.
- 1950: Elected as a member of the Second National Assembly and was active until June, when he was abducted to North Korea during the Korean War.
- July 1956: Served as executive committee member and standing committee member of the Peaceful Reunification Promotion Council in North Korea.
- Early 1959: During the purge of the Chongqing faction, he was framed as a counter-revolutionary, arrested, and died of illness at the end of February that year.1
He also served as an instructor at the Sinheung Military Academy and as an executive committee member of the Korean National Independence Federation.
References
Footnotes