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Heroic Corps

1919–1928 Korean pro-independence group

Summary

1919–1928 Korean pro-independence group

Field	Value
name	Heroic Corps
leader	Kim Won-bong
dates	–
country	Flag_of_Japan_(1870–1999).svg Korea, Empire of Japan
allegiance	Flag_of_the_Provisional_Government_of_the_Republic_of_Korea.svg Korean independence movement
headquarters	Shanghai
ideology	Anarchism
module	{{Infobox Korean name/auto
child	yes
hangul	^의열@단
hanja	義烈團

The Heroic Corps () was a militant Korean independence activist organization during the Japanese colonial period. Founded in 1919, its activists believed in revolutionary uprising and egalitarianism.

After the March First Movement was crushed in 1919, many independence activists moved their bases to foreign countries. Members of the Heroic Corps thought that those organizations were too moderate and would not contribute to independence in Korea. They took a more radical approach by opposing compromises such as culturalism. The Heroic Corps wished for a violent revolution, reflected the Manifesto of the Korean Revolution (조선혁명선언) by independence activist Shin Chae-ho. The Corps struggled for independence by assassinating high-ranking Japanese officials and committing acts of terrorism against government offices. The Heroic Corps moved their base to Beijing, China, and brought members to Shanghai, totaling about 70 members in 1924. Kim Ku, Kim Kyu-sik, Kim Chang-suk, and Shin Chae-ho were engaged as advisers. President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek supported the Heroic Corps.

Goals

Leading the Corps was a 22-year-old man, Kim Won-bong (1898 – 1958). The organization was based on ten articles of resolution, which listed seven types of individuals who must be killed and five governmental structures that must be destroyed. Their aims were to defeat the Japanese invaders (), gain independence for Korea (), abolish class distinctions (), and establish equal rights to arable land (). Their ideals displayed a new wave of revolutionary public activity in the fight for independence in direct response to the March 1st Movement ().

Attacks

The Heroic Corps carried out their plan for the assassination of Japanese ministers and the destruction of public offices in March 1920. They attempted to carry bombs into Korea. Kwak Jae-ki sent bombs from Manchuria to Kim Byung-wan that Japanese police confiscated in Gyeonggi Province. Kwak Jae-ki and 12 others were arrested by Japanese police.

On 12 January 1923, bombs were thrown into the Jongno Police station. On 17 January, Japanese police searched Sampanong (), Kim Sang-ok's refuge. Surrounded by 20 police officers, Kim Sang-ok exchanged gunfire, killing the head of the criminal division and wounding several other police officers. He escaped the siege to hide on Namsan Mountain, disguising himself as a monk, and hid in Lee Hye-soo's house in Hyoje-dong (). On 22 January, several hundred armed policemen besieged the house. By himself, Kim Sang-ok resisted the Japanese for over three hours. He killed several policemen before committing suicide with his last bullet. Japanese police authorities did not identify Kim Sang-ok as the bomber until after he had died.

On 28 December 1926, at 2 p.m., Na Seok-ju entered Joseon Siksan Bank () and threw one bomb. Later that day, he attacked the Oriental Development Company () by throwing bombs and firing a gun at random, killing several people. Five Japanese policemen chased him, and he ultimately used his gun to kill himself and avoid arrest.

References

(December 2025). "의열단". }}{{Dead link.
"Doopedia(두산백과) : 의열단(Heroic Corps)".
"The Academy of Korean Studies(한국학중앙연구원) : 의열단(Heroic Corps)".
"네이버캐스트(Naver Cast) : 김상옥(Kim Sang-ok)".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1919-establishments-in-korea anarchism-in-korea defunct-anarchist-organizations militant-korean-independence-activist-organizations organizations-based-in-shanghai 1919-establishments-in-china 1928-disestablishments-in-china

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