A memorial ceremony was held on Wednesday for the 61st anniversary of Dr. Homer Hulbert, who was expelled from Korea for activities to recover South Korea’s sovereign rights.

Dr. Hulbert was a teacher at the Royal English School, which was established by Korea in 1886. He was also the chief of the school’s education curriculum and the advisor for diplomatic affairs to King Gojong.

After the 1905 Korea-Japan treaty that signed over Korea’s sovereignty to Japan, he took a secret letter from King Gojong and met with the U.S. Secretary of Defense and U.S. President, where he made the case for Korea’s independence and the annulment of the treaty. In 1906, he published the periodical Korea Review, where he exposed Japan’s ambitions to annex Korea and its atrocities.

After his expulsion from Korea by the Japanese, he returned to the U.S. He came back to Korea in 1949 upon the invitation of the South Korean government. After his death, he was interred at the Yanghwajin Foreigner’s Cemetery in accordance with his wishes to be buried in Korea.

He received the Korean government’s Order of Merit for National Foundation posthumously in 1950.