Ch'oe Namsun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ch’oe Namsun (1890-1957) was born into a chungin (middle people) family in Seoul. He was educated in Seoul in the classical Chinese manner, then studied in Japan in 1904 and again in 1906. While there, he was converted to the Japanese style of modernization, and sought to pattern Korea’s modernization after the Japanese approach. He participated in the Patriotic Enlightenment Movement, publishing the first successful Korean modern magazine, Sonyun (Youth), and pioneered new styles of Korean poetry. He drafted the Declaration of Independence for the March First Movement in 1919. Though he wrote the Declaration of Independence, he refused to sign it, fearing reprisals by the Japanese leadership in control at the time. He was arrested by authorities and imprisoned until 1921. He then joined the organization established by the Japanese Governor-General commissioned to compile the history of Korea. He then wrote many pro-Japanese speeches and articles from 1937 until the liberation of Korea in 1945. In 1949, he was arrested by Syngman Rhee’s government for collaboration with the Japanese during the colonial period. His reputation as a Korean historian is controversial due to his early studies on the traditional founder of Korea, Tan’gun, and his later contributions which were heavily influenced by Japanese views. His historical works are characterized by his complex, intricately detailed, and voluminous writing style.