Min Yeong-rin

Min Yeong-rin (閔泳璘, 15th day of the 11th lunar month of 1873 – 1 June 1932) was a Joseon bureaucrat of the late dynasty and received the Joseon nobility title during the Japanese colonial period.

He was from the Yeoheung Min clan of Empress Myeongseong, and was the son of Min Sul-ho or was adopted by Min Tae-ho. Therefore, he had a sibling relationship with Empress Sunmyeong, the first wife of Emperor Sunjong of the Korean Empire.

He passed the civil service examination in 1890 and held various offices, beginning with the Sigangwon. Immediately after the conclusion of the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, on 16 October 1910, he received the title of count from the Japanese government. On 1 August 1912, he received the Commemorative Medal for the Annexation of Korea from the Japanese government, and on 10 November 1915, he received the Taisho Enthronement Commemorative Medal from the Japanese government. However, on 5 May 1919, he was sentenced to three months in prison with three years of suspended execution for opium inhalation, and on 21 July of the same year, he was stripped of his count title.

The list of 708 pro-Japanese collaborators published in 2002 and the list of individuals scheduled for inclusion in the Dictionary of Pro-Japanese Collaborators by the Minjok Munje Research Institute made public in 2008 both included him. He is also included in the list of 195 pro-Japanese collaborators announced in 2007 by the Republic of Korea Committee for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese Collaboration.

Family relations

• Great-grandfather: Min Hong-seop (閔弘燮)
  • Adoptive grandfather: Min Chi-o (閔致五)
    • Biological father: Min Sul-ho (閔述鎬)
    • Adoptive father: Min Tae-ho (閔台鎬) - Not to be confused with Min Tae-ho (閔泰鎬), a person with the same name

References

• Committee for the Investigation of Pro-Japanese Collaboration (December 2007). 〈Min Yeong-rin〉 (PDF). 2007 Investigation Report II - Reasons for Decisions on Pro-Japanese Collaborationist Activities. Seoul. pp. 148–163. Publication registration number 11-1560010-0000002-10.