‘The Calamity of Pyeongchon-ri’ and Hongju Righteous Army 

Author: Kim In-Sik (Chungang University)

Page: 5-53

Abstract

 In Sep.26 1907(the 19th day of eighth month of lunar calendar), the military and the police of the Japanese Empire raided on the Lee Nam-kyu’s house in Yesan. When the night he taken to police, Lee Nam-kyu and his son Lee Chun-gu were scathed by the knife of Japanese army and died in around the Pyeonchon river of Onyang. There were two Nobi followed him as a porter. Kim Eung-gil who is one of them also died, but another Nobi Ga Su-bok lived barely. The military and the police of the Japanese Empire intended to kill him immediately from the time when raided his house. In the end, they killed him with an excuse that he refuse to comply the ordinance prohibiting topknots. 

 ‘The calamity of Pyeonchon-ri’ is the incident that the arrester was killed by Japanese Empire which claim to stand for ‘civilized country’, without the formal legal processes. Lee Nam-kyu and his son were killed on a deserted place, and their bodies were dumped on the path. In this regard, it is a incident that revealed the invasion of Japanese imperialism. 

 In the process of staging a counter attack after the collapse of Hongju righteous army, Lee Nam-kyu aggressively backed up the activities of Hongju Righteous Army centering on Yesan, which eventuated in Lee Nam-kyu and his son's martyrdom. Yesan was a base of the counter attack of Hongju righteous army, and Lee Nam-kyu was at the center of the struggle. That is the reason why the ‘calamity of Pyeonchon-ri’ is necessary to be record as the Korean national movement history, not personal history. 

 The basic outline of this incident has been revealed. But the whole story of ‘The calamity of Pyeonchon-ri’ has not been described, and other records show some errors of fact. The calamity of Pyeonchonwas reported on in The Korea Daily News(大韓每日申報) six days after the incident. Madoilgi(馬島日記), The Maecheon’yarok(梅泉野錄), The Yeomjae’yarok(念齋野錄) also record ‘The calamity of Pyeonchon-ri’, but there are few errors that need to be corrected. 

 This paper attempts to review the records of the ‘The calamity of Pyeonchon-ri’, and restore the fackt of this incident based on the testimony of the survivor of this incident(Ga Su-bok), relative and descendant of Lee Nam-kyu. Also this paper try to reconstruct this incident by analyzing the background and cause of the incident in relation to Hongju righteous army.

Key Words 

Ga Su-bok, Hongju righteous army, Jeongmi righteous army, Kim Eung-gil, Lee Chun-gu, Lee Namkyu​