Dreaming of Korea’s Independence


Kwon Gi-ok, the first Korean female pilot, joined the Korean independence movement at an early age. When Koreans nationwide rose up against Japanese colonial rule on March 1st, 1919, Kwon was a student at Soongeui(숭의) Girls’ School in Pyongyang. The 19-year-old Kwon was arrested for participating in the independence movement and was imprisoned for six weeks. After her release, she served as a liaison with the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and was closely monitored by the Japanese police.

While engaging in the independence movement, she succeeded in secretly selling provisional government bonds for cash. For this, Kwon was sentenced to six months in prison. She never yielded to severe torture, and it is said that Japanese investigators clicked their tongues at her relentlessness.

In the spring of 1920, Kwon was released from prison and continued to secretly sell bonds and carry out liaison work for the provisional government. In August the same year, Kwon organized the Pyongyang Youth Women’s Mission. She traveled across the country to give lectures and conducted clandestine activities. The Japanese police began an investigation again to catch her, and she smuggled herself into China and became an exile there.

How did this young woman who threw herself into the independence movement become the first Korean woman to fly in the air?


Flying in the Air with Wings


After watching an aerobatics demonstration by American stunt pilot, Art Smith, at the Yeouido airfield in Seoul in May 1917, Kwon began to cherish her dream of flying in the sky. But her goal was more than just flying in the air. She wanted to find the way to use her flight for the independence of her home country.

After arriving in China, Kwon entered the Hongdao Women’s School, which was a missionary school in Shanghai. She prepared for admission to an aviation school while studying Chinese and English. After a lot of effort, she was admitted to the Republic of China Air Force School in Yunnan in 1924.

At the time, the school had about 20 airplanes. With these planes, Kwon received aviation training for more than two years, and became the first Korean female pilot at last. When she graduated from the school on February 28, 1925, she had logged about 1,500 hours of total flight time.

Even there, Kwon’s life was in jeopardy because the Japanese police had sent a killer in hot pursuit of her. Fortunately, she managed to survive the crisis, thanks to her colleagues’ help. After graduation, she returned to Shanghai. This reflects how carefully and persistently Japan monitored Korean independence fighters who carried out anti-Japanese activities.


Lady of the Air Force


“I’m planning to establish an aviation school. Airplanes will help enlist public support inside Korea.”
- From Ahn Chang-ho’s journal on February 17, 1920

The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai sought to establish a military school and an aviation school as well as the air force in order to stage the independence movement over the long term. But it was far from easy to purchase expensive aircrafts. Despite his constant efforts, prominent independence activist Ahn Chang-ho failed to buy planes capable of flying long distances. He had to give up the idea of using the air force to communicate with independence movement groups that were scattered all around.

Meanwhile, Kwon suggested that the provisional government purchase aircrafts to bombard the Japanese Government-General of Korea. But she quickly learned that in reality, it was hard to buy airplanes. When the air force of the Chinese Nationalist Army was created in spring of 1927, she became a founding member of the air force.

Kwon was discharged from the Chinese Air Force before the China-Japan War broke out in 1937. She reorganized the Korean Patriotic Women’s Association with other activists such as Kim Soon-ae(김순애), Bang Soon-hee(방순희) and Choi Seon-yeop(최선엽). Kwon rallied a number of Korean women to encourage them to join the independence movement and to instill the spirit of national independence in them. While she was leading these activities in earnest, Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule.

Kwon returned to Korea in 1947, two years after Korea’s liberation. In her homeland, she served as an expert member of the National Assembly Defense Committee and contributed greatly to the establishment of the South Korean Air Force. Her significant contribution earned her the nickname, “Lady of the Air Force.”


Modern Woman who Broke down Prejudice

Kwon led a turbulent life as a female independence fighter and the country’s first female aviator during the Japanese colonial period. There were only a handful of male pilots at the time, and her determination to fly in the air for the sake of her country’s independence deserves high praise.

Kwon was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation, the Independence Medal in 1977. She was also selected as “Independence Activist of the Month” in 2003.