Yi Seok-yong Birthplace

This is the birthplace of Yi Seok-yong, commander of the righteous army of the Honam Changui Dongmaengso (Honam Righteous Army Allied Corps), located in Sambong village, Seongsu-myeon, Imsil-gun. Built in the 1870s, the house is a typical commoner's dwelling, three kan (a bay between structural pillars, used as a unit of house size) across the front and two kan deep, consisting from left to right of a kitchen, a maru (wooden-floored hall) and room, and a room on the right. Yi Seok-yong (1878–1914) was born here and lived here until 1903, when he moved to Taepyeong-ri at around the age of 25. Yi Seok-yong (1878–1914) was from Sambong-ri, Seongsu-myeon, Imsil-gun; his clan seat was Jeonju, his courtesy name was Gyeonghang, and his pen name was Jeongjae. On 26 August 1907 he left home, and on 12 September he raised a righteous army at Yongam below Maisan Mountain, where he was acclaimed commander of the Honam Changui Dongmaeng (Honam Righteous Army Alliance). Beginning with about 300 men and growing to around 1,000, his army enforced strict military discipline and eliminated the pro-Japanese Iljinhoe and self-defence corps; operating across Jinan, Imsil, Jangsu, Namwon, Jeongeup, Gokseong, Hamyang, Gurye and other parts of the two Jeolla provinces and South Gyeongsang Province, it waged an anti-Japanese struggle up to 1908, continuing with around 300 men until 1909. When the Japanese army's Great South Korea Punitive Campaign, launched in September 1909, made continued righteous-army activity impossible, Yi Seok-yong disbanded his forces and went into hiding. In 1912 he organised the Imja Dongmilmaengdan (Imja Winter Secret Alliance) and planned to assassinate the Japanese Governor-General of Korea and the officials known as the Five Eulsa Traitors and Seven Jeongmi Traitors, who had signed the treaties of 1905 and 1907. He then travelled to Japan and planned arson attacks in Tokyo, Osaka and other cities. However, while raising funds for these activities he was betrayed by a comrade, arrested by Imsil police in October 1913, and sentenced to death by the Jeonju District Court. He faced trial with dignity, declaring, 'I would rather be a chicken or a dog of Korea than a subject of the enemy nation,' and died for his country at Daegu Prison in April 1914. His remains, together with those of the 28 righteous men who fought alongside him, are enshrined at Sochungsa Shrine.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Imsil, Jeonbuk

Designation

Provincial Monument · 시도기념물