Im Byeong-chan

Im Byeong-chan (林炳瓚, February 5, 1851 – May 23, 1916) was a leader of the righteous armies in the late Joseon period who rose in arms together with Choe Ik-hyeon. He was from the Pyeongtaek clan, was a disciple of Choe Ik-hyeon, and died a martyr through hunger striking. His art name was Donheon (遯軒).

Life

He was born in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, and studied Confucian classics. In 1883, when famine struck the Honam region, he donated a large sum of money to relieve the suffering, and he was respected as a Confucian scholar in the area. He also served as magistrate of Naksan (present-day Naksan-eup, Suncheon), but he was more inclined toward scholarship and education than toward official posts, and he devoted himself to training disciples near Hoemun Mountain in his hometown.

When the Eulsa Treaty was forced upon Korea in 1905, a movement to launch a righteous army rose among the Confucian scholars who opposed the treaty. When Choe Ik-hyeon came down from Gyeonggi Province to the Honam region and prepared a righteous army in Jeongeup, Im joined him, and in that year, on June 4, he rose in arms at Museong Seowon in Jeongeup.

They captured neighboring counties one after another over several days, but when they were attacked by government troops at Sunchang and driven back, the leadership, including Choe Ik-hyeon and Im Byeong-chan, was arrested by the Japanese army. He was confined on Tsushima Island and was released in 1907. Choe Ik-hyeon, who was elderly, died on Tsushima Island.

After the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty was concluded in 1910, Gojong sent a secret edict ordering the formation of the Dongnip Uigunbu and encouraging the armed resistance. In 1912 and again in 1913, he received secret edicts appointing him Commander-in-Chief of Pacification for North and South Jeolla Provinces, responsible for the Honam region, and he accepted them.

He traveled back and forth to Seoul and organized the Dongnip Uigunbu on a nationwide scale, and in May 1914 he set a date for an uprising and planned to declare independence. However, when Kim Chang-sik of the Dongnip Uigunbu was arrested by the Japanese police, the leadership was arrested in succession, the plan was never carried out, and the organization collapsed. Im Byeong-chan was also arrested at this time, was sentenced to exile on Geomundo, and died at his place of exile after a hunger strike.

In 1962, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Independence Medal). His son Im Eung-cheol, who participated in the Dongnip Uigunbu, his grandson Im Su-myeong, and his younger brother Im Byeong-dae, who joined him in the first uprising with Choe Ik-hyeon, were all independence activists who participated in the Daedongdan, which sought to help Uichin defect abroad, and who were posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation or the Medal of Merit for National Foundation.

References

• 대한민국 국가보훈처, 이 달의 독립 운동가 상세자료 - 임병찬, 1994년
• 정읍시청, 임병찬창의유적지