Two Independence Activists Unearthed by Suwon City Selected for National Commendation
Two independence activists from Suwon, unearthed by Suwon City, have been added to the list of commended independence activists.
Suwon City announced on the 14th that Moon Yong-bae (1916–unknown) and Yun Gyeong-ui (1893–unknown), both from Suwon, were included in the list of 283 independence merit awardees announced by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of Liberation Day.
These individuals were unearthed by Suwon City on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of liberation last year and had their application for commendation submitted. Their previously unknown achievements have now been officially recognized by the nation.
Moon Yong-bae was posthumously awarded the Patriotic Medal. A native of Yangsan-ri, Seongho-myeon, Suwon County, he was working as a craftsman at the Yongsan workshop when he was arrested in connection with the Chosun Communist Party Reconstruction Movement (Gyeongseong Kom Group) incident and imprisoned in Seodaemun Prison in May 1937. He was sentenced to one year imprisonment with a three-year suspended sentence for violating the Public Peace Maintenance Act and served approximately two years before being released on April 14, 1939.
Yun Gyeong-ui, who received a Presidential Commendation, was a native of Maehwa-ri, Seosin-myeon, Suwon County, engaged in agriculture. In 1937 during wartime, he was sentenced to six months imprisonment for spreading rumors that the Japanese military would lose.
With limited information about the two individuals' activities and descendants following their independence activism, Suwon City discovered the hidden independence activists and submitted applications for commendation on behalf of their descendants.
Previously, Suwon City began systematic investigations into the city's independence activists in conjunction with the opening of the Suwon Museum in 2008 and made continuous efforts to discover independence activists.
In 2009, Kim Hyang-hwa, a Suwon gisaeng who led the independence movement, received a Presidential Commendation, and in 2012, Lee Seon-gyeong, who organized and participated in a secret society for national independence and died for the country at age 19, received the Patriotic Medal.
Subsequently, based on the discovery of 113 independence activists in 2017–2018, in 2019, which marked the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Movement and the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, 15 activists' commendations were applied for, with 9 receiving commendations the following year.
Additionally, in 2024, commendations for 2 activists were secured, and after discovering and applying for 7 more last year, 2 additional activists received commendations this time.
Lee Dong-geun, head of the curatorial team at the Suwon Museum, stated, "Over the past 20 years since its opening, the Suwon Museum has maintained research into the region's independence movement and efforts to discover awardees, resulting in a total of 15 independence activists receiving national commendations," and added, "We will continue our interest and efforts in regard to independence activists who have not yet been commended."