Yi Sang-jae

Life

Yi was born in 1850 in Hansan, Chungcheong Province. His courtesy name was Gyeho (季皓), and in his youth he studied the Chinese classics. In 1881 he traveled to Japan as an attendant with the Gentlemen's Observation Mission (Sinsa Yuramdan), a delegation sent by the Joseon government to examine Japan's modern institutions and technology. In 1887 he accompanied Park Jeong-yang, Korea's first minister to the United States, as a legation secretary. After the Gabo Reform he held various posts, including councilor in the Ministry of Education and director of the General Affairs Bureau of the State Council (Uijeongbu).

In 1896 he joined Philip Jaisohn (Seo Jae-pil) and others in founding the Independence Club. In 1898 he became its vice president and helped transform the club into a political organization; he also chaired the Manmin Gongdonghoe (All People's Joint Association), a mass public assembly at which ordinary people gathered to debate national affairs. In 1902, in connection with the so-called Reform Party Incident, he was arrested together with his second son, Yi Seung-in, and imprisoned in Hanseong Prison. While in prison he read the Bible and embraced the Christian faith. His conversion came about through the encouragement of Syngman Rhee and the influence of missionaries such as Homer Hulbert and James Gale, and it is reported to have taken place around 1903, when he was fifty-four years old. After his release in 1904, he was baptized by Gale together with fellow former prisoners and became a member of Yeondong Church, which Gale had founded.

During the March First Movement of 1919, he was arrested on charges of directing the independence movement and was released four months later. In February 1927 he was chosen as the first president of the Singanhoe (New Korea Society), but he died on March 29 of that year in a rented house in Jae-dong, Seoul. His funeral, held on April 7, was Korea's first "social funeral" (a funeral conducted jointly by civic organizations). His grave is in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province.

Ministry and Achievements

• YMCA movement: After his release from prison, he devoted himself to educational work at the Hwangseong Christian Young Men's Association (today's Seoul YMCA). In 1908 he became secretary of the religious department and head of the education department, and he later served as general secretary and as president of the national council. In 1924, when the Korean YMCA separated from the Japanese organization and joined the World Alliance of YMCAs directly, he is reported to have led the effort together with Yun Chi-ho, Hugh Cynn (Sin Heung-u), and others.
• Education and the press: In 1921 he founded the Joseon Education Association and served as its president. In 1924 he became president of the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
• National cooperation: In 1927 he was chosen as the first president of the Singanhoe, an organization formed jointly by the nationalist and socialist camps. Although he was already bedridden at the time, he accepted the presidency.

Influence on the Korean Church

As a layman rather than an ordained minister, Yi used the Korean YMCA as a base for spreading Christianity among young people and the yangban (aristocratic) class. He understood the ultimate goal of Christianity to be the kingdom of God, in which justice and love are realized, and he carried his faith into work on behalf of society and the nation. For this reason he is regarded, together with Pastor Jeon Deok-gi of Sangdong Church, as one of the representative figures of the early Christian national movement. His membership in Yeondong Church, a Presbyterian congregation with many members of yangban background, is also cited as an example of the broader trend of the yangban class embracing Christianity at the time.

Assessment

He is widely regarded as a figure who lifted the spirits of Koreans under Japanese colonial rule through his humor and wit. His selection as president of the Singanhoe is interpreted as evidence that he was a leader whom both the left and the right could respect.

Other analyses, however, view his activities differently. Some researchers hold that he stood at the center of a group of reform-minded Christians of yangban background from the Giho region (Gyeonggi and Chungcheong), that is, Syngman Rhee's domestic support base. Interpretations also differ as to why he did not sign the Declaration of Independence of the March First Movement. One study argues that he deliberately held himself in reserve as part of the next line of leadership in order to sustain the movement, and that he sought to avoid both conflict with missionaries who were critical of political involvement and repression of the YMCA. By contrast, the interrogation record of Choe Nam-seon states that Yi did not sign because he was elderly and disagreed with the methods being used. This question is also connected to broader discussions of the March First Movement and Christianity and of the relationship between church and politics.