Chi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn (; 25 January 1888 – 15 January 1957), also known as Yi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn (), was a Korean independence activist during the period of Japanese rule (1910–1945). He later became a South Korean politician. His name was originally Chi Sŏkkyu, but he took the nom de guerre Chi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn, meaning "Earth and Blue Sky", while leading Korean guerrilla forces against the Japanese. To hide his identity from Japanese forces while conducting military independence activities, he also used the names Chi Taehyŏng, Chi Subong, and Chi Ŭlgyu. His pen name was Paeksan, meaning White (Bright, Clear, Snowy) Mountain.
He was a 1914 graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy; however, he defected to the Korean guerrilla forces in 1919, bringing with him knowledge of modern military techniques from his experience as a lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army. His skills were appreciated by the Korean guerrilla forces, who made him the superintendent of the Sinheung Military Academy, where new leaders of the Korean forces were trained.
In 1940, he became the commander-in-chief of the Korean Liberation Army, sponsored by the Chinese Nationalists. During the Second World War, he invited General Hong Sa-ik, the highest ranking Korean officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, to defect and join the Korean Liberation Army, but the invitation was declined.
Following Korea's liberation, he served as a member of the South Korea's National Assembly. He died in 1957, and was posthumously honored by the government of South Korea with the Order of Independence Merit for National Foundation in 1962.
Biography Early life Birth and ancestry Chi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn was born as the youngest son of his father, Chi Chaesŏn (池在善), and his mother, who was of the Gyeongju Lee clan, at 30 Samcheong-dong, Jongno District, Seoul. His hometown was Chungju, his childhood name was Subong, and his official name was Seokgyu. His father, Chi Chaesŏn, is the 31st generation descendant of Chigyŏng (池鏡), the founder of the Chungju Ji clan. He is a descendant of Chi Yonggi (池湧奇), who served as a scholar-chanchanseongsa of Goryeo. His family was one that produced military officers such as Chi Kyech'oe (池繼催) who suppressed the rebellion of Yi Kwal (李适) in the mid-Joseon Dynasty and died heroically while fighting against Qing soldiers at Sin'gye (新溪) during the Byeongjahoran.
The late 1880s, around the time Chi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn was born, was a time when the fate of the country was very precarious, like a candle in the wind, as the invasion of Western powers and Japanese imperialism became more blatant. While the armies of world powers, including Japan, the Qing Dynasty, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, were constantly strengthening their efforts to invade Joseon, the British illegal occupation of Geomun-do occurred in 1885. Domestically, it was also a time when the confrontational relationship between the enlightenment faction, which was the main force behind the Kapsin Coup, which wanted to dismantle feudal society and achieve enlightenment by accepting Western civilization, and the anti-foreign forces and feudal forces that wanted to absolutely repel the invasion of foreign powers, became acute. . In 1882, Heungseon Daewongun, the leader of the anti-foreign forces movement, was kidnapped by Qing soldiers and imprisoned in Baoding which is in Hebei Province. Additionally, socially, it was a time when the weakening of national defense was exposed as the Imo Incident broke out due to corruption within the military along with the dissolution of feudal society.
Childhood When he was 5 years old, his father died of intestinal paralysis, and he was raised by a single mother. Chi's mother in raising never spoiled him despite him being her only son. She sometimes played the role of mother and father, and even in difficult economic conditions without a head of the family, she educated him with all her heart focusing on the three organs: intelligence, virtue, and body.
Entering the Military Academy He graduated from Pai Chai Academy in 1906 at the end of the Joseon Dynasty. In 1908, he entered the Military Academy of the Korean Empire. At that time, the Military Academy of the Korean Empire had narrowly escaped closure due to the disbandment of the military in the summer of 1907 and continued to exist in a reduced form. Therefore, joining the academy was very difficult at the time and required the assurance or recommendation of an influential person. Chi was narrowly able to enter the academy thanks to his mother's help to Lady Eom through a family member.《한국시 시만강좌,47집》,-이청천 편-,이기동 저. p186 However, the following year, in August 1909, during his second year of study, the military was abolished due to pressure from the Resident-General, and at the same time, the Military Academy was also closed down. At this time, the Japanese side decided to use their generosity to send about 50 first- and second-year cadets to study at the Tokyo Army Central Youth School in Japan. Accordingly, Chi goes on a study abroad trip to Japan with his classmates and juniors.《한국시 시만강좌,47집》,-이청천 편-,이기동 저. p186 Until this time, he used his real name (Chi Dae-hyeong). When Korea and Japan were annexed while studying abroad, he was transferred to the infantry department of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and graduated as a member of the 26th class in 1914. After being promoted to lieutenant, he went into exile in Manchuria in 1919, became the head of the Sinhŭng Military Academy, and devoted himself to training executives for the independence army. It is said that during his exile at this time, he took with him the Japanese army's military manual (a type of tactical manual) and military maps. He was the only person in the independence army to graduate from a regular military academy, and Chi's value must have been very important to the independence army.
Marriage Anecdote Afterwards, Chi married Yun Yongja (尹容慈), a woman from the Papyeong Yun family, according to his mother's orders. Chi, after drinking Haphwanju with his new wife, said this at the meeting with his wife that night.
Even though it was an old-fashioned arranged marriage, it was a remark that was difficult for a dreamy, beautiful 18-year-old bride to hear from her husband on the first day of her wedding. However, Yongja Yun had no choice but to quietly nod without realizing it.
Anecdote about Name Change He was not afraid of dying, but believed that since dying without accomplishing what he wanted would be so vain, he would change his name to avoid getting caught.
So, instead of the existing name Seok-gyu, he took the new name Ch'ŏngch'ŏn, and his surname Chi was uncommon and easily heard by others, so he took his mother's surname (Lee). From this time on, Kim Gwang-seo (金光瑞) also changed his name to Eungcheon (應天). It is also said that when he was caught by the police of the Japanese Government General of Korea while crossing Manchuria by train, the name he blurted out was 'Yi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn.'
Later, Chi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn's daughter and independence activist Chi Pokyŏng (池復榮) recalled:
Independence Activism Independence Army In 1920, Chi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn was in the Provisional Government in Shanghai and moved over to the Manchurian Military Government, an affiliate organization of the Provisional Government. After receiving an invitation, he moved to the Western Military Government and took office as an executive in the Western Military Government. However, after the Battle of Cheongsanri, to avoid large-scale retaliation against Koreans by the Japanese army, he closed the Sinhŭng Military Academy and led his troops to Gando, where he organized the Korean Independence Corps with Seo Il, Hong Beom-do, Kim Kyu-sik, and Kim Chwajin. After the Free City Incident in June 1921, he moved to Irkutsk, where he formed the Koryo Revolutionary Army (August 1921) with Oh Hamuk and others. → It is a separate organization from the Goryeo Revolutionary Army (May 1923), located in Jilin Province, founded by Kim Kyu-sik and Lee Beom-seok. In October of the same year, he took office as principal of the Goryeo Revolutionary Military Academy. He was arrested around April 1922 due to a conflict between the educational policy of the military academy and the regulations of the Soviet authorities, but was released through the efforts of the Provisional Government in July.
He organized the Righteous Government with Yang Gi-tak, Oh Dong-jin, and later organized the newly integrated Innovation Council. In July 1930, after Kim Chwajin was assassinated, he participated in the founding of the Korean Independence Party (not the same one as Kim Ku's party), and separately created the Korean Independence Army and took office as the commander-in-chief of the independence army.
In Manchuria, they joined forces with the Chinese Tiger Army and conducted joint Korean-Chinese operations (Daejeonjaryeong, Battle of Ssangseongbo), but around May and June 1933, Chi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn and Lee Beom-seok led about 100 men and crossed to mainland China.이정식, 《대한민국의 기원》(일조각, 2006) pg. 64 He joined Kim Ku's faction in late 1933, but in 1934, Chi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn left the party and founded the New Korea Independence Party and went out separately.이정식, 《대한민국의 기원》(일조각, 2006) pg. 64
In 1935, he participated in the National Revolutionary Party of Kim Won-bong and Kim Kyu-sik. However, after conflict with Kim Won-bong, he rebelled against Kim Won-bong's policy of appeasing and embracing left-wing careerists, so he left the party in April 1937 and founded the Joseon Revolutionary Party.
Korean Liberation Army In the aftermath of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1940, he followed the Provisional Government to Chongqing, attended the establishment ceremony of the Liberation Army in September of that year, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the Liberation Army to carry out the anti-Japanese war. Afterwards, he approved the proposal to dispatch the liberation army to India. In 1942, the Joseon Volunteer Corps led by Kim Won-bong was incorporated into the 1st Zone of the Liberation Army, and Kim Won-bong became the deputy commander of the Liberation Army and the commander of the 1st Zone, but acted independently, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Zones of the Liberation Army also worked independently, each expanding the power of their own faction. Because they focused only on the military, Chi Ch'ŏngch'ŏn was the nominal commander, but had difficulty leading them.
In 1944, after he received a report from Chang Chun-ha, who had served in the Chinese army and then defected to the Liberation army, that Kim Won-bong was using a trick to encourage distrust of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and the Liberation Army among Koreans who had served in the Japanese army, he personally inspected the Liberation army.장준하전집 1 : 돌베개(장준하, 세계사, 2001) pg. 94-95