Lee Gap-seong (Korean: 이갑성; October 23, 1889 – March 25, 1981) was a independence activist, politician, and social activist of South Korea. His family seat was Gyeongju, and he was from Daegu. His art name was Yeondang (硏堂). During the March 1st Movement, he was one of the Thirty-three National Representatives and signed the Declaration of Independence. In 1931, during the Singanhoe incident, he fled to Shanghai to escape the repression of the Japanese Government-General of Korea and pursued independence activities there before returning home.
In 1940, he served seven months in prison in the Heungeop Club Incident and was released through the personal guarantee of Yun Chi-ho. In 1945, he joined the organization of the National Association for the Promotion of Independence, became its chairman, and in 1947 served as a member of the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly, supporting the theory of establishing a separate government. In 1950, he was elected a member of the House of Representatives in the 2nd National Assembly. Afterward, in 1952, he served as chairman of the Korean National Association, which became Syngman Rhee's personal support organization. That same year, he joined the Liberal Party, and in October 1952, during the Korean War, he served as acting Prime Minister of the wartime cabinet. In 1953, he served as a Supreme Council member and Director of Political Affairs of the Liberal Party. After the April 19 Revolution, he lived as a private citizen, and in February 1963 became an initial organizing member of the Democratic Republican Party. In 1965, he served as chairman of the Gwangbokhoe.
Early life
Birth and youth
Yeondang Lee Gap-seong was born in Daegu on October 23, 1889, and from an early age studied Chinese classics in his hometown. At age 11, while returning home after attending a Chinese-character private school, he met the Protestant missionary A. M. Sharocks, converted, and became a Protestant believer.
Because of his conversion to Protestantism, his parents expelled him from home. At age 12, he traveled on foot to the capital without money and sought out the YMCA.
Education
Upon arriving in Gyeongseong, he at first lodged at the evangelist's quarters (Jeondosil) of Yeondong Church while delivering the Christian newspaper.[1]
Through contact with the missionary E. H. Miller, the assistant pastor of Yeondong Church, he grew close to him, and soon moved to Miller's home (136 Yeonji-dong), where he helped with household chores and learned English from Miller's wife. Reverend Miller arrived in Korea in September 1901 and, at Yeondong Church, worked to resume the education of the Underwood School (Gyeongsin School), which had been suspended for three years. He rose from teacher to principal and was also active as a director of the YMCA. In 1906, under the care of Reverend Miller, who became the 5th principal of Gyeongsin School, he enrolled at Gyeongsin School and graduated in 1910, the year of the national humiliation, as part of the 5th class. While attending Gyeongsin School, he lived in the dormitory and attended Yeondong Church every Sunday until his graduation in 1910, so his ties with the church spanned more than ten years from 1901.
After graduating from Gyeongsin School in 1910, he entered the Severance Medical College and majored in pharmacy. In 1913, he completed the pharmacy department of Severance Medical College and continued studying until 1915, when he graduated from the Severance Medical College. He was appointed head of the pharmaceutical department of the Severance Union Medical College. He was provided housing within the hospital grounds, and attended the Namdaemun Outside Gate Church (now Namdaemun Church) also located within the grounds, where he held the office of deacon. He met again with Ham Tae-young, who had transferred from Yeondong Church to Namdaemun Church (Namdaemun Outside Gate Church), and they lived in mutual support.
Independence movement
Preparations for the independence demonstrations
In 1915, he became an office clerk at the Severance Medical College affiliated hospital and later became head of the pharmaceutical department of the affiliated hospital. Moved by the principle of national self-determination of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, and as plans for a nationwide independence demonstration advanced, from the end of 1918 he planned independence activities together with Protestant figures such as Park Hee-do.
Believing it would be advantageous to enlist the help of students in carrying out the independence movement, and knowing that students in Gyeongseong had a deep interest in the political situation, he frequently met with influential students at their schools. He told them that national leaders such as Son Byong-hi were leading the independence movement and appealed to them to join, while secretly monitoring the activities of students at each high school and college in Gyeongseong. When Emperor Gojong died suddenly, the independence demonstration was set for February of that year.
Immediately before the March 1st Movement
When the March 1st Movement broke out, while he was working in charge of the hospital pharmacy, he participated as a Protestant representative among the Thirty-three National Representatives, signed the Declaration of Independence, and organized student demonstrations, serving as a link between the elder figures of the Thirty-three and the students. On the night of February 20, 1919, at the home of Ham Tae-young on Namdaemun-ro 5-ga in Seoul, he met with Ham Tae-young, Hyeon Sun (玄楯), An Se-hwan, Oh Sang-geun (吳尙根), and others to plan the March 1 demonstrations. On February 22, 1919, upon learning that students planned to make their own separate Declaration of Independence and proclaim independence, he halted this and appealed to them to join the independence plan led by Son Byong-hi and others, which succeeded. On February 27, together with Park Hee-do, Ham Tae-yeong, Kim Chang-jun, Shin Seok-gu, Oh Hwa-young, Lee In-han (李寅煥), Choe Seong-mo (崔聖模), Lee Pil-ju (李弼柱), Park Dong-wan (朴東完), and others, he gathered at Lee Pil-ju's home, where Ham Tae-yeong received from Choe Rin of the Cheondoist circle the draft of various documents drafted by Choe Nam-seon. Agreeing with their purpose, he affixed his signature and seal as one of the Protestant representatives among the national representatives.
On February 28, he received about 600 of the 900 copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by Ham Tae-yeong from Pastor Kim Chang-jun, had them reprinted, and that day gave 5 copies to Lee Yong-seol (李容卨), a student at the Severance Medical College, to print and circulate among students. Early in the morning on March 1, Lee Gap-seong printed several thousand copies of the Declaration of Independence and gave more than 400 copies from the hospital office to Lee Yong-sang (李容祥), a student at the Severance Medical College. Of these, 200 copies were sent to Pastor Lee Man-jip (李萬集) in Daegu, and the remaining 200 were sent to the independence sympathizer Im Hak-chan (任學瓚) in Masan. He also gave 200 copies to the student Kim Byeong-su (金屏沫) to send to Park Yeon-se (朴淵世) and others in Okgu County, Jeollabuk-do, partly distributed copies to Im Yeong-sin who had come up from Cheonan in Chungcheongnam-do, and gave 1,500 copies to Kang Gi-deok (姜基德) of Gyeongseong for distribution. On the night of February 28, the national representatives including Son Byong-hi, who had gathered at Son Byong-hi's home in Jae-dong (齋洞), Gyeongseong, feared great confusion would result if so many students gathered at Pagoda Park, which had originally been chosen as the site for the declaration, and so they decided to move the venue to Taehwagwan in Insa-dong.
The March 1st Movement and arrest
On March 1, at Taehwagwan in Insa-dong, Gyeongseong, the Thirty-three National Representatives read the Declaration of Independence. At this time, he was active in the city distributing leaflets and encouraging students.
After mass demonstrations broke out nationwide on March 1, while he was carrying out heavy responsibilities such as organizing student demonstrations and distributing leaflets, around 2 p.m. on March 1, the Thirty-three National Representatives gathered at Taehwagwan, and it was agreed that Lee Gap-seong would first submit a statement of opinion to the Japanese Government-General of Korea, after which they would remain at the meeting place and quietly allow themselves to be bound. On the afternoon of March 1, Lee Gap-seong went to submit the statement of opinion of the Thirty-three National Representatives to the Japanese Government-General of Korea, and was arrested by police of the Government-General of Korea. He was referred to the Gyeongseong District Court, and in 1920 at the Gyeongseong Court of Appeal was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for alleged violations of the so-called Security Law and Publication Law. He served his sentence at Seodaemun Prison.
Release and exile
After his release, he joined the YMCA and was active as a member. In 1924, he became a foundation director of the Severance Medical College and manager of Severance Medical and Pharmaceutical Supplies. In February 1925, together with Lee Chang-je (李昶齊), Hyeon Sin-deok (玄信德), Jo Cheol-ho (趙喆鎬), Bae Jip (裵執), Byeon Seong-ok (邊成玉), and five others, he organized the Current Affairs Club (時事俱樂部) to resist the anti-Christian movement of communist-aligned groups, and opposed the anti-Christian claims of socialists.1
In 1926, he was elected a director of the YMCA. In 1931, he became manager of the Gyeongseong factory of Gyeongseong Industrial Co., Ltd.
From 1927 onward, together with Heo Heon, Kim Byeong-ro, Lee In, Heo Jeong-suk, Cho Byeong-ok, and others, he formed and was active in Singanhoe (新幹會). In 1933, following the Singanhoe incident and the issuance of an arrest order, he fled to Shanghai and joined the Provisional Government in Shanghai, engaging in independence activities. He returned home in 1938 and, while active after joining the Heungeop Club (興業俱樂部), was implicated in the Heungeop Club Incident in 1940 and served seven months in Seodaemun Prison. He was released through the personal guarantee of Yun Chi-ho.
Allegations of pro-Japanese collaboration and rebuttal
After his release from prison, until the 1920s he participated in the YMCA, Singanhoe, the Heungeop Club, and others, continuing youth activities of the Christian community, and then in 1933 fled to Shanghai. There are numerous testimonies that from this time he worked as a spy for the Japanese.2 Lee Gap-seong was also one of three of the Thirty-three National Representatives, along with Choe Rin and Jeong Chun-su, who changed their names under the Japanese name-changing policy.
Because of this, in 1993, when the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs of South Korea released a list of award recipients suspected of pro-Japanese collaboration, the name of Lee Gap-seong, who had even served as a member of the independence patriot screening committee in the past, was included.3 However, due to the nature of spy allegations, evidence was difficult to find after the passage of time, and most related persons had died. Since no further investigation was carried out, only suspicions remained, and no clear facts were revealed.
Controversy over Lee Gap-seong was intensively examined by the Institute for the Study of National Problems and the Hankyoreh. In a March 1st special feature on SBS News Tracking, "Who Is the Turncoat?" (2005), his alleged pro-Japanese collaboration was carefully verified, and it was argued that these claims were entirely untrue, that many of the points raised by the Institute were based on scant evidence, and that because Lee Gap-seong was active in right-wing circles after liberation, he was subjected to collective slander by left-wing groups.45
After liberation
Immediately after liberation
After liberation, Lee Gap-seong was active as a right-wing politician. In October 1945, he joined the Syngman Rhee-led National Association for the Promotion of Independence (獨立促成國民會), formed to oppose the trusteeship plan, and was elected chairman of the National Association for the Promotion of Independence. On October 5, 1945, pointing out the severe factional strife across Joseon, and lamenting it, he founded the Party Unification Preparatory Committee (정당통일기성회). On December 14, together with Kim Yeo-sik (金麗植), Kwon Dong-jin, and others, he founded the New Korean People's Party (新韓民族黨) and nominated Kwon Dong-jin as its party leader.
At that time, many political parties and social organizations appeared in Joseon. In a December 9, 1971 interview with the Dong-A Ilbo reporter, Lee Gap-seong said: "After liberation, I was dismayed at how many political parties suddenly appeared. I once asked General Hodge when it was, and he asked how many parties were registered, and I was told there were 74." As a founding initiator of the Korean Democratic Party, he said in an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo that he had thought, "A political party only makes sense once there is a government, but independence has not yet come and there is no government, so what need is there for a party?" In October 1945, he organized the Party Unification Preparatory Committee with the aim of unifying the political parties and organizations that had sprung up like mushrooms, and among dozens of organizations, those with compatible aims or similar characters were merged.
In 1946, he took part in welcoming the Joint Soviet-American Commission. Afterwards, on April 18, 1946, he participated in the merger of the three parties, the Hanguk Independent Party, the National Party (國民黨), and the New Korean People's Party, but soon after An Jae-hong and others were expelled from the Korean Independence Party, he also left the party. In 1946, he was elected chairman of the Party Unification Preparatory Committee, but as conflicts continued, it was eventually dissolved in 1947.
In October 1947, he ran for and won a seat in the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly established by the U.S. Army Military Government, and from December of that year served as a member of the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly.
At that time, while cooperating with the left-right coalition efforts of Kim Kyu-sik and others, after the theory of establishing a separate government and the theory of North-South negotiations emerged, he supported Syngman Rhee's theory of establishing a separate government. In March 1948, he was appointed by Major General Dean, the military governor of the U.S. Military Government, as one of the members of the Central Election Commission to administer the May 10 elections. In May 1948, as a member of the Korean National Association, which had become Syngman Rhee's personal support organization, he ran in Daegu but lost. Afterward, he led and managed the Korean National Association.
Political activities
Early Syngman Rhee government
He took part in the establishment of the separate government under Syngman Rhee, and in May 1950, as a member of the National Association, ran in Daegu for the 2nd House of Representatives and was elected. Immediately after the outbreak of the Korean War, when Seoul was occupied on June 28, he fled by private car to Daejeon and attended cabinet meetings as a minister without portfolio.
On May 16, 1951, following the resignation of Vice President Lee Si-yeong, at the 2nd National Assembly held in the wartime capital of Busan, he ran as a candidate for Vice President of the ruling-party-affiliated Korean National Party in the 2nd vice presidential election, but lost. In the vice presidential election, in which the Vice President was elected by 151 of the 210 registered National Assembly members present, he competed with Kim Sung-soo of the Democratic Nationalist Party. In the first and second rounds of voting, neither reached the required number of votes. In the third round, he received 73 votes and lost, while Kim Sung-soo, who received 78 votes, was elected Vice President.
In October 1952, during the Korean War, he was appointed by President Syngman Rhee to serve as Prime Minister of the wartime cabinet.6 In November, he was submitted to the National Assembly for formal confirmation as Prime Minister, but the confirmation was rejected.7
In 1952, he was elected chairman and Supreme Council member of the Korean National Association, and by absorption and merger with the Liberal Party, he joined the Liberal Party.
Participation in the Liberal Party
When the Youth Corps faction of Lee Beom-seok, through Yang U-jeong (梁又正) and others, attempted to undermine the National Association faction, he resisted and checked the Youth Corps faction within the Liberal Party. Syngman Rhee, who was wary of the rise of the Youth Corps faction, valued this and appointed him a Supreme Council member of the Liberal Party to counter Lee Beom-seok's faction.
In 1953, he became a Supreme Council member and Director of Political Affairs of the Liberal Party, then the ruling party, and also ran as a candidate for Vice President in the presidential and vice presidential elections. In 1953, he became chairman of the Thirty-three National Representatives Bereaved Families Association, a organization related to the March 1st Movement, and served as chairman of the National Revival Association and in other posts. After the Youth Corps faction was purged, at the special request of Syngman Rhee, he became one of the eight members of the reconstruction committee tasked with rebuilding the Liberal Party, which was in turmoil, and worked as Director of Political Affairs of the Liberal Party. However, after he struggled for control with the faction of Lee Gi-bung, he was purged by the Lee Gi-bung faction and pushed out of the party's real power.
In 1956, in order to run as an independent in the presidential and vice presidential elections, he temporarily left the Liberal Party and ran as a vice presidential candidate. At that time, he said he supported Syngman Rhee as the presidential candidate, but he was defeated. In the presidential and vice presidential elections of 1960, he also ran as a candidate for Vice President but lost as a minor figure.
Third Republic era
In April 1960, when Syngman Rhee resigned, he withdrew into private life, and together with Yun Chi-young, Im Yeong-sin, Yim Byung-jik, and others, led right-wing organizations. When the May 16 military coup broke out in 1961, he supported the revolution, and in 1962 he received the Order of National Foundation, Presidential Medal.
From January 1963, during the transition to civilian rule, he took part as an initial organizing member in the founding work of the Republican Party (the Democratic Republican Party), led by Kim Jong-pil, Yun Il-seon, Chung Koo-young, and others. In 1963, he received an honorary doctorate in law from Konkuk University. On January 15, 1965, he was appointed as an adviser to the Korea-Japan talks, but declined. In the same year, he took office as chairman of the Gwangbokhoe, and worked to discover and promote the welfare of independence activists. In 1965, he was also elected president of the Yi Jun Martyr Commemoration Association. That same year, he was appointed adviser to the Samil Comrades Association (三一同志會) organized by Hwang Sin-deok and others.
Later life
During the March 1st Movement, together with Kim Chang-jun and Park Hee-do, he was in his early thirties, the youngest of the group, and because he lived to age 93, he was the last surviving member of the Thirty-three. After liberation, he was invited every year to the March 1st and Liberation Day events as a representative of the independence patriots. Lee Yong-hee, a political scientist who served as Minister of the Ministry of National Unification, was the son of Lee Gap-seong.
In 1980, his spy allegations were raised again. In 1980, Cho Kyung-han (曺擎韓), a former member of the Provisional Government's State Council, summoned Park Chang-am and said that Lee Gap-seong was a spy for Japan, stating, "I need to reveal this; do you have the courage?" Park Chang-am agreed to Cho Kyung-han's request. Based on Cho Kyung-han's statement, Park Chang-am published an article in the monthly magazine Jayu. Lee Gap-seong, while bedridden, filed a lawsuit against Park Chang-am, but he died during the trial without seeing its outcome, and the lawsuit was withdrawn. Later, Yun Chi-young visited Park Chang-am and praised him for resolving a matter that several people could not resolve even together. Lee Gap-seong died on March 25, 1981. He was the last surviving member of the Thirty-three National Representatives.
Honors
Education
- Severance Medical College, Gyeongseong, Bachelor's degree (1915)
- Korea National Defense University, Bachelor of Public Administration, 1st class (1956)
Honorary doctorate
Miscellaneous
In his early faith, he attended Yeondong Church in Seoul, and later attended Namdaemun Church (南大門敎會).
During the March 1st Movement, at the request of Seokho-pil (Schofield) to photograph scenes of Korea's independence movement, he took several photographs with a camera of students' demonstrations in the city of Gyeongseong and gave them to him. These photographs, which showed students' demonstrations and the shooting of demonstrators by Japanese Government-General gendarmes, became known to the Western world through Schofield and American Christian missionaries who were in Joseon under Japanese Government-General rule.
Actors who portrayed Lee Gap-seong
References
- Yeondong Church History Committee, Biographies of 16 Patriots of Yeondong Church (publication commemorating the 115th anniversary of Yeondong Church)
- Ko Chun-seop, History of Gyeongsin (1991)
- Park Eun-sik, Blood History of Korean Independence Movement (Yushin-sa, 1920)
- National History Compilation Committee, History of the Korean Independence Movement 2 (National History Compilation Committee, 1966)
- Independence Movement History Compilation Committee, History of the Independence Movement 2 (Independence Movement History Compilation Committee, 1971)
- Independence Movement History Compilation Committee, Collected Materials on the Independence Movement 5 (Independence Movement History Compilation Committee, 1972)
- Korean National Assembly Biographical Compilation Committee, Complete Collection of National Assembly Members Through the Ages (Tax Public Opinion Press, 1983)
- Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Register of Korean Independence Patriots (Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, 1997)
- Song Nam-heon, Political History of Modern Korea 1 (Sungmunkak, 1980)
References
Footnotes