Chinese nat`l works to preserve Korean martyr Yun`s legacy

Amid the 79th anniversary of the execution of Korean independent fighter Yun Bong-gil Friday, a Chinese national has waged a decades-long campaign to honor Yun and raised public awareness of his sacrifice.

Yang Xinhua, 66, vice chief secretary of the Shanghai International Friendship Research Institute, has spent 22 years to publicize Yun`s heroism by directly engaging in the construction of a pavilion, monument, and memorial hall honoring the freedom fighter at Lu Xun Park (formerly Hongkou Park) in Shanghai.

The Chinese city is where Yun carried out a bombing attack against several Japanese leaders 79 years ago.

In March 1989, Yang met Yun Nam-ui, the independent fighter’s brother who worked for the Shanghai city government as deputy secretary general on Asian matters, and listened to the story of Yun Bong-gil for the first time. Yang reportedly cried when hearing the activist’s story and decided to study him and commemorate his patriotism.

In 1990, Yang made a significant contribution to the hosting of the first event to commemorate Yun Bong-gil at the park before Korea and China established diplomatic ties. He also set up four years later the memorial hall “Maejeong” named after Yun’s pen name Maeheon (“Mae” refers to a Japanese apricot flower tree); planted 80,000 such trees to build the memorial garden “Maewon” in 1995; erected a monument at the entrance of the memorial hall in 1998; and helped display articles left by the activist and related documents at the memorial hall.

mungchii@donga.com