Yu Gwan-sun

Life

Yu Gwan-sun was born on December 16, 1902 (the seventeenth day of the eleventh month by the lunar calendar), in Jiryeong-ri, Idong-myeon, Mokcheon County, South Chungcheong Province (present-day Yongdu-ri, Byeongcheon-myeon, Cheonan). She was the second daughter among the three sons and two daughters of Yu Jung-gwon and his wife, Yi So-je. Her grandfather Yu Yun-gi and her uncle Yu Jung-mu embraced Protestantism early, and the whole family attended the village Methodist church, Jiryeong-ri Church (now Maebong Church).

She studied at Yongmyeong Girls' School in Gongju, which was run by the American Methodist missionary Alice Sharp (Korean name Sa Ae-ri-si). In 1916, through arrangements made by Sharp and other missionaries, she transferred to Ewha Haktang in Seoul as a scholarship student (a student whose tuition was paid by the school). Some records give the year of her transfer as 1915. While at Ewha Haktang, she is known to have attended Chungdong Church.

During the March First Movement of 1919, she took part in the demonstrations in Seoul; she was detained during the student demonstration of March 5 but was soon released. When the government ordered the schools closed, she returned to her hometown and visited churches and schools to spread news of events in Seoul. On April 1, she was at the forefront of the independence demonstration at the Aunae (Byeongcheon) marketplace. Japanese military police opened fire, killing a number of people, including her parents, and Yu was arrested that day. The Gongju District Court sentenced her to five years' imprisonment. She appealed, and after the Gyeongseong Court of Appeals reduced the sentence to three years, she did not pursue a further appeal.

On March 1, 1920, while held at Seodaemun Prison, she led an independence demonstration inside the prison to mark the first anniversary of the March First Movement. Later that year an amnesty reduced her sentence to one year and six months. However, she died in prison on September 28, 1920, from the aftereffects of torture and from malnutrition. Her body was released to Ewha Haktang, and on October 14 a funeral was held with the Rev. Kim Jong-u of Chungdong Church officiating, after which she was buried in the Itaewon public cemetery. The location of her grave was later lost when the cemetery site was redeveloped.

Ministry and Achievements

Although she never held a church office, her activities were closely tied to the church community. The Aunae demonstration was led jointly by leaders of Jiryeong-ri Church, including her uncle Yu Jung-mu and the class leader Jo In-won. On appeal, Yu received the same sentence as these leaders, the heaviest handed down. She is said to have lit torches on Maebong Mountain on the night of March 31 to alert the surrounding villages to the planned uprising.

In 1962 the government posthumously awarded her the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Independence Medal. In 2019, the centennial of the March First Movement, she was also awarded the highest grade of the order, the Republic of Korea Medal, following a resolution of the State Council.

Influence on the Korean Church

Yu Gwan-sun is a representative figure among the Christians who took part in the March First Movement and is widely remembered across denominational lines. Her home church was closed under Japanese colonial surveillance; it was reestablished in 1967 with the help of Ewha Girls' High School and became Maebong Church. It now belongs to the Korean Methodist Church. Maebong Church houses a Yu Gwan-sun exhibition hall in its basement and holds March First Movement commemorative services and memorial services; it is also a popular site of pilgrimage. The Southern Annual Conference of the Korean Methodist Church is reported to have held large worship services in the church's front courtyard since 1987.

Assessment

Yu Gwan-sun is regarded as a symbol of the March First Movement. However, opinions differ over the significance of the fact that her name became widely known only after Korea's liberation. Her name rarely appears in records from the Japanese colonial period; she became famous after a commemorative association was organized in 1947 and a biography and a film appeared the following year.

• Some commentators point out that Ewha Haktang alumnae with records of collaboration with Japan, such as Pak In-deok, took part in the commemorative efforts. They argue that such figures used Yu Gwan-sun to obscure their own pasts or to promote Christianity. Even these commentators, however, acknowledge that her arrest, torture, and death in prison are established facts.
• Others note that Jo In-won, Yu Jung-mu, Kim Gu-eung, and others who led the demonstration alongside her have been comparatively forgotten.
• Conversely, some have claimed that her struggle itself was fabricated. Rebuttals to this claim have been published, citing Japanese colonial government documents and court records that document facts such as the killing of her parents.