Jang Il-hwan

Jang Il-hwan (張日煥, February 1, 1886 – April 9, 1918) was an independence activist during the Japanese colonial era. He organized the Korean National Association.

Life

He was born in Pyongyang and graduated from Soongsil School. In 1913, with the support of Ahn Chang-ho and others, he founded Cheongsan School in Pyongyang. In 1914, he organized the Korean Independence Youth Corps in Pyongyang, centered on current students and graduates of Soongsil School and a theological school, and published its organ newspaper, Cheongnyeondan-ji (《청년단지》). In September 1914, he went to Hawaii and received guidance from Park Yong-man. In April 1915, he returned to Korea, and on March 23, 1917, in Pyongyang, he gathered 25 comrades, including Kang Seok-bong, Seo Gwang-jo, Bae Min-su, Baek Se-bin, and Yi Bo-sik, to organize the Korean National Association, and was elected its chairman.¹ He distributed the association's bulletin, Kukminbo (《국민보(國民報)》). He pursued plans such as selecting students to send to the Whampoa Military Academy, but in February 1918 the organization was discovered and he was arrested. On April 9, 1918, he died as a martyr from torture. Jang, chairman of the Korean National Association, a secret society that was an armed anti-Japanese Christian organization, was being shadowed by Kim Tae-seok, a Korean detective who had become a tool of the Japanese. While discussing domestic and overseas underground activities at a Chinese restaurant, they were caught on the spot by two detectives who were following them, Nakamura and Kim Tae-seok.

Process of Dying Under Torture

For more than a week, members including Jang were tortured, and Baek Se-bin, who had come from Manchuria, yielded to the torture and confessed about the organization. As a result, all members, including those who had not attended the meeting and even acquaintances of the members, were arrested, though about 30 were actually charged. Chairman Jang, along with , , , and others, endured imprisonment in Pyongyang Prison. Jang, a devout Christian who longed for independence, left a last message to Bae Min-su and died from torture. Bae Min-su described the process of the chairman's death as a martyr.