Whatever he did, he did for Korea’s independence

“When I eat, I do it for independence. When I sleep, I do it for independence. This will remain unchanged until my life ends.”
“Then do you believe that it’s possible for Joseon to gain independence?”
“Yes. Independence will come because all Korean people believe in it.”
This is what freedom fighter Ahn Chang-ho, penname Dosan, said in an interrogation with a Japanese prosecutor after his arrest. His undying patriotism and fervent desire for independence purportedly left the Japanese official speechless.

Born on November 9th, 1878 in South Pyeongan Province in northern Korea, Ahn was galvanized into action when he witnessed a battle of the Sino-Japanese War in Pyongyang in 1894. His eyes were opened to his country’s dismal reality in which two foreign countries waged war on his homeland. Realizing that Koreans must rely on themselves, not anyone else, Ahn went to Seoul in 1895 to study literature and broaden his world view. After graduation he joined the Independence Association and led the establishment of its northwestern chapter in Pyongyang.

At age 20 he was already an emerging figure in Korea’s independence movement as seen in a scathing speech he gave against incompetent government officials at a public demonstration in Pyongyang in 1898. Ahn’s speech was so moving that it motivated renowned religious leader and educator Lee Seung-hoon to devote himself to the resistance movement thereafter. From that time, Ahn spent three years traveling around Gyeonggi, Hwanghae, and Pyeongan Provinces to deliver talks and enlighten the common people.

Standing proud as an island in the vast sea

Ahn was especially passionate about education. He founded Korea’s first co-ed school, the Jeomjin School, in 1899. But he left Korea for the United States in 1902 after realizing that he needed to be educated in new studies if he was to achieve greater things in life. On his way to the United States, he was impressed by the majesty of the Hawaii Islands, standing tall amid the vast sea and gave himself the penname of Dosan, the Korean name for Hawaii at the time.

While studying on the money he earned as laborer in San Francisco, Ahn formed a Korean-American association in San Francisco, the first of its kind for Korean-Americans, and assisted with their employment and fair treatment. But when Korea’s sovereignty was forcibly stripped away by the Eulsa Treaty between Korea and Japan in 1905, he returned home in the following year and established an underground anti-Japan resistance group called Shinmin-hoi (New People’s Group).

Lighting the way to independence

From his return, Ahn launched several educational and industrial projects and engaged in various nationwide campaigns, such as promoting modern housing and farms, stressing the need to educate women, and pushing to adopt a national anthem. Despite his attempts to restore Korea’s sovereignty, the nation’s plight grew direr.

Then freedom fighter Ahn Jung-geun was arrested in Harbin, China in 1909 for assassinating Japanese official Hirobumi Ito. The Japanese regime, investigating Ahn’s background, apprehended and severely interrogated Dosan Ahn Chang-ho for three months for masterminding the assassination.

Having deemed it impossible to wage a sovereignty restoration movement in Korea any further, Shinmin-hoi decided to fight the Japanese colonial regime from abroad. Dosan sought asylum in the United States in 1913 and organized the Heungsa-dan group to recruit patriots willing to work for Korea’s independence.

In 1919 Ahn publicized the March 1st civil movement to the world to garner global support for Korean independence. Then he moved to Shanghai, China to take part in the establishment of Korea’s interim government where he served as internal affairs minister, secretary to the prime minister, and head of labor affairs. In the meantime, he published the Dokrip Shinmun (Independence Newspaper) to reach out to Korean compatriots overseas.

Dosan believed that righteous actions led inevitably to fruition in spite of any difficulties, powering his relentless drive to gain independence for Korea. When Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, he formed an alliance against the Japanese regime to launch an all-out resistance movement. But he was arrested again in the following year and died from the aftereffects of torture on March 10th 1938.

Although Dosan Ahn Chang-ho died before his wish of Korea’s independence came true, his spirit still lives on today, guiding people to live righteous lives. This is why he is known as the undying light of independence to this day.