Hyŏn Ikch'ŏl

During this process, he realized the necessity of participating in the armed war for independence and decided to receive systematic military education and training.

However, the Western Military Government was unable to launch a full-scale war of independence due to its own limitations and pressure from the Chinese warlord regime and the Japanese consulate.

About 40 people participated in this organization, including Hyŏn Chonggyŏng (real name 玄炳根), a relative from the same family, Yi Howŏn (李浩源), Kim Sŏksŏn (金錫善), and Hong Wŏngyŏng (洪元京).

[9][2][6] In particular, in April 1921, the teacher dispatched nine members, including Kim Jun-gyeong, to the country based in Myoja-gu, Gwanjeon-hyeon, and carried out an operation to raise military funds in the Jeongju area of North Pyongan Province .

However, after being released from prison in 1924, he crossed the Yalu River again and joined Tonguibu (統義府), an integrated organization of the independence movement in southern Manchuria.

At this time, he took on the important role of Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and was mainly responsible for negotiations with Chinese officials, while also working closely with the Provisional Government in Shanghai.

Hyŏn Ikch'ŏl gathered 40 young people and founded Gwanghandan, an anti-Japanese armed struggle organization, in Hyangno-gu, Guanzhen County, Bongcheon Province, China, in February 1920.

[12][2][5][8][10] In April 1921, he was based in Myoja-gu, Gwanjeon-hyeon, and dispatched nine members, including Kim Jun-kyung, to the country to conduct an operation to raise military funds in the Jeongju area of North Pyongan Province.

However, after being released from prison in 1924, he crossed the Yalu River again and became active in Tonguibu, an integrated organization of the independence movement in southern Manchuria.

[12][2] In 1924, he served as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Daehan Tonguibu, and was in charge of negotiations with Chinese officials and had close contact with the Provisional Government.

As a result, he succeeded in subsuming the Heungeopdan faction, which was based in the areas of Fusong, Ando, and Jangbaek County, into the Bureau of Justice and Military Prefecture organizational system.

There was an Oriental medicine doctor named Shin Han-cheol in Kwaedaemuja, Tonghwa-hyeon, not far from the headquarters of Bureau of Justice and Military Prefecture.

Accordingly, in September 1926, the teacher sent five members of the Bureau of Justice and Military Prefecture Volunteer Army, including Second Lieutenant Kim Chang-rim (real name 金元國), to execute pro-Japanese activist Shin Han-cheol and his family.

[7] In 1926, he formed the Korean Revolutionary Party in Jilin with Yang Gi-tak, Lee Dong-gu, and Cho So-su and was appointed chairman.

The mainstream faction of the Bureau of Justice and Military Prefecture Volunteer Army, the Civil Affairs Committee of the Korean People's Association in Manchuria, and Shim Yong-jun's affiliates of the Army Advisory Office formed the 'National Unity Party Organizational Alliance' in September 1928 and attempted to form a unified autonomous government and a single national party.

[7] In 1931, while going to Bongcheon for diplomatic negotiations, he was caught by the Japanese police and sentenced to seven years in prison by the Sinuiju District Court after a Korean spy tipped them off.

When he was released on sick bail while serving a sentence in Sinuiju Prison, he succeeded in escaping to Manchuria again to avoid surveillance by the Japanese police.

Then he arrived in Changsha, Hunan Province with his wife, Bang Sun-hee, and his young son, Jong-hwa, as part of the extended family of the Provisional Government.

[9][6][10][3] Lee Un-hwan, a member of the Korean Revolutionary Party who had been funded by Kim Ku because he wanted to go on a special operation from Nanjing to Shanghai, suddenly rushed in and fired a pistol.

[9][2][5][8][4][3] The reason why Lee Un-hwan fired shots at the members of the Provisional Government was because they insisted on their own opinions and made little progress in unifying the movement front, and the dissatisfaction that had been building up exploded because Kim Gu and other leaders of the Provisional Government gave low living expenses to the youth of the Korean Revolutionary Party.

[12] Hyŏn Ikch'ŏl, who had been in and out of prison several times and devoted himself to the independence movement with indomitable fighting spirit for over 20 years, passed away on May 7, 1938, without ever seeing his country liberated in vain.

Hyŏn Ikch'ŏl’s painted portrait by Hyŏn's bereaved family