Yu Yeo-dae

Yu Yeo-dae (劉如大, 26 November 1878 – 13 January 1937) was a Korean independence activist and one of the 33 National Representatives. He was a Presbyterian pastor in Korea, and his art name was Nakpo (樂圃).

Life

Born in Uiju, North P'yŏngan Province, he studied Chinese classics and worked as a village schoolteacher. In 1898, he joined Protestant Christianity through a missionary. Like many Christians of the time, he recognized the need for enlightenment through education, and he established Ilsin School (日新學校) in Uiju and Yangsil Academy (養實學院), a girls' school, devoting himself to educational work. In 1915, he graduated from Pyongyang Theological Seminary and was ordained as a minister.

In February 1919, he met Yi Seung-hun at the home of Yang Chon-baek in Sŏnch'ŏn and agreed to participate in the March 1st Movement the following month as one of the 33 National Representatives. He entrusted his seal to Yi Myong-yong so that it could be affixed to the Korean Declaration of Independence, and he did not attend the public reading gathering held in Gyeongseong Prefecture on that day. Instead, he organized the independence movement in the Uiju area centered on Yangsil School. Having shared his intentions in advance with Uiju Christians such as Chong Myong-ch'ae and Kim Du-chil, and after mimeographing the Declaration of Independence, he gathered crowds at about the same time as the action at Pagoda Park and read the declaration aloud. He was immediately arrested, sentenced to two years in prison, and served his sentence at Seodaemun Prison.

After his release, he returned to Uiju, rebuilt Yangsil School, and engaged in pastoral work. He later moved to , where he died.