Frank Schofield

Life

Schofield was born in 1889 in Rugby, England, and emigrated to Canada in 1907. Farm work there sparked his interest in livestock health. After graduating from the Ontario Veterinary College, he researched bacteriology and earned a doctorate. He is reported to have had polio, which left him with limited use of one arm and one leg.

In 1916, at the request of Oliver R. Avison, he went to Korea with his wife, Alice, as a medical missionary of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. He taught bacteriology and hygiene at Severance Union Medical College. He learned Korean quickly and is said to have been lecturing in Korean within about two years. He adopted the Korean name Seok Ho-pil (石虎弼), expressing his resolve to help the Korean people with a will as firm as stone and a heart like a tiger's. He reportedly first wrote the name as 石好必 and later changed the Chinese characters.

Under pressure from the Japanese Government-General of Korea after the March First Movement, he returned to Canada in 1920. He then taught for many years at the Ontario Veterinary College and gained an international reputation for his research on animal diseases. He returned to Korea in 1958 and remained there, teaching at the Seoul National University College of Veterinary Medicine. He died in Seoul on April 12, 1970. In accordance with his wish to be buried in Korean soil, he was interred at the Seoul National Cemetery.

Ministry and Achievements

• Documenting the March First Movement: He is known as the foreigner whom Yi Gap-seong, one of the 33 National Representatives, informed of the plans for the independence demonstrations on the eve of the uprising. On March 1, 1919, he photographed the demonstrations in central Seoul.
• Exposing the Jeamni Incident: In April 1919, Japanese troops in Jeamni, Hyangnam-myeon, Suwon County, Gyeonggi Province (present-day Hwaseong), locked villagers inside a church and set it on fire, massacring them. Schofield visited the site, investigated, and made the atrocity known abroad through photographs and reports.
• Aiding victims of torture: He visited Seodaemun Prison, where he met imprisoned independence activists such as No Sun-gyeong and Yu Gwan-sun. He demanded that Governor-General Hasegawa Yoshimichi end the use of torture, and in August 1919 he met Japanese Prime Minister Hara Takashi to protest.
• Writing for the press: He published articles in newspapers such as the English-language Japan Advertiser in Japan and The Globe in Canada, criticizing the discrimination and violence of colonial rule.
• Service after liberation: While teaching at Seoul National University, he continued to lead Bible studies with students. He supported orphanages and vocational schools and cared for poor students and orphans.
• Veterinary research: He studied the hemorrhagic disease (sweet clover disease) that cattle develop after eating spoiled sweet clover. This research led to the development of anticoagulants that prevent blood clots in humans.

Assessment

The South Korean government awarded him the Order of Cultural Merit in 1960 and the Order of Merit for National Foundation (Independence Medal) in 1968. He is reported to have been the first foreigner buried in the patriots' section of the Seoul National Cemetery. In 2015 a statue of him was erected in the park of the Jeamni March First Movement Martyrs Memorial Hall in Hwaseong, and Seoul National University holds an annual memorial service in his honor. "34th National Representative" is not an official title but a widely used epithet honoring his contributions. Records indicate that the Japanese Government-General of Korea regarded him at the time as a highly dangerous agitator. Those who honor him also emphasize that, after Korea's liberation, he continued to show concern for the vulnerable and to oppose injustice and corruption. No widely known criticism of his activities has been identified.