Traces of Anti-Japanese Struggle

Following Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910, the 500-year Joseon Kingdom collapsed and Imperial Japan gained control of the Korean Peninsula by force. Countless Korean independence activists left for Manchuria, cherishing their dream of achieving independence through armed resistance against Japan.

In the Manchurian wilderness, they established Shinheung(신흥) Military School, the birthplace of independence movement, and nurtured independence fighters. There, they left traces of anti-Japanese struggle, as seen in two successful battles against Japan in Cheongsanri(청산리) and Bongodong. It was Hong Beom-do, the hero of the two battles, who added a new, dynamic page to Korean history.


Joining the Military as Bugler at 15

Born as the son of a poor farmer in 1868 in Pyongyang, Hong Beom-do lost his mother only seven days after birth. His father also died when he was nine years old. Afterwards, he stayed at his uncle’s house to help with farm work and later worked as a farm servant of a wealthy man. When Hong was 15 years old in 1883, he pretended to be two years older than he actually was to enter the military as a bugler.

The three years of military service brought stability to his life for the first time. As he saw military officers imbued with corruption, however, he ran away and became a hunter.

In August 1895, when Hong was living away from the outside world, a tragic incident occurred in which Japanese assassins trespassed into Gyeongbok Palace and assassinated Queen Myeongseong.


Righteous Army Activities

The queen’s death infuriated the entire nation, with righteous armies of volunteer soldiers rising in arms in all parts of the country. Hong was willing to join the heated struggle to protect the nation. He waited in ambush in Cheollyeong(철령), a passage linking Gyeonggi, Gangwon and northeastern provinces, and killed about ten Japanese soldiers, thanks to his sharp gun skills and a wide knowledge of local geographical features that he had accumulated as a mine worker and hunter.

Hong fought against Japanese troops and punished pro-Japanese officials with his 12 comrades in the regions bordering South Pyongan, South Hamgyeong and Hwanghae provinces until 1897.

When Japan enforced a law to gather all the weapons Koreans possessed on September 3rd, 1907, Hong mustered discontented hunters and organized a righteous army, which defeated Japanese garrisons in various regions through elusive hit-and-run raids.

This earned him the nickname ‘Flying Hong Beom-do.’ When Japan annexed Korea in 1910, Hong went to Manchuria to engage in righteous army activities in earnest.


Bongodong, a Prelude to Great Battle

Having already won great fame as an honorable army leader, Hong devoted himself to fostering independence fighters. After the March 1st Independence Movement in 1919, he became a commander-in-chief of the Korean Independence Army. He organized a gallant force of 400 men to make a surprise attack on Japanese troops in such regions as Gapsan(갑산), Hyesan(혜산) and Jaseong(자성).

As Hong’s forces dealt a serious blow to Japan with their armed campaign in border areas, the Japanese were poised to fight back. On June 7th, 1920, Japanese troops assaulted Bongodong, a stronghold of the Korean Independence Army.

Hong’s forces, with only 700 men, employed a clever tactic to lure the enemy to the Bongodong valley, shaped like a satgat(삿갓), or a traditional hat made of bamboo, that is turned upside down. In the battle, Hong’s troops killed 150 enemies and injured 200 others, while capturing 160 rifles and three machine guns. But the Korean forces suffered very little damage, with the battle recorded as the most splendid victory that the independence army had ever achieved up to that time.


Hero Fades into History

Thanks to the victory in the Bongodong Battle, which is called the first round of the war of independence, the independence army gained confidence and also won victories at the subsequent Nodugu(노두구) and Cheongsanri Battles.

It is worth mentioning that Hong threw his weight behind General Kim Jwa-jin(김좌진) during the Cheongsanri Battle in September 1920. The following year, he moved to Alekseyevsk, which is present-day Svobodny in Russia, and set up a military school there with the cooperation of the Lenin government.

Unfortunately, many independence army members were either shot dead or taken prisoner in the so-called “free city incident” in 1921 due to the betrayal of the Russian Communists. After that, Hong focused only on training the younger generation. He died in Siberia in 1943, two years before Korea’s independence from Japanese colonial occupation. That was the end of the era of the great hero, who paved the way for armed struggle against Japan outside Korea.