Heroic Corps

The Heroic Corps (Hangul: 의열단; RR: Euiyeoldan; MR: Uiyoldan) was an organization founded in Korea in 1919, during the Japanese colonial period. Its activists believed in revolutionary uprising as well as egalitarianism.

After the March 1st Movement was crushed in 1919, many independence activists moved their bases to foreign countries. However, members of the Heroic Corps thought that those organizations were too moderate and would not contribute to independence in Korea, and instead took a more radical approach by opposing compromising solutions such as culturalism. The Heroic Corps wished for a violent revolution, reflected by the Manifesto of the Korean Revolution (조선혁명선언) by independence activist Shin Chae-ho. The Corps struggled for independence by assassinating high-ranking Japanese officials and committing acts of terrorism against government offices. The Heroic Corps moved their base to Beijing, China and brought members to Shanghai where they had about 70 members in 1924. Kim Gu, Kim Kyu-sik, Kim Chang-suk, and Shin Chae-ho were engaged as advisers and Chiang Kai-shek, President of the Republic of China, supported the Heroic Corps. However, as time passed, their movement evolved with the spirit of the times.

Leading the Corps was a 22-year-old man named Kim Won-bong (1898 – c. 1958). The organization was based on ten articles of resolution, which listed seven types of individuals who must be killed and five governmental structures that must be destroyed. Their aims were to defeat the Japanese invaders (Hangul: 구축왜노; Hanja: 驅逐倭奴), gain independence for Korea (Hangul: 광복조국; Hanja: 光復祖國), abolish class distinctions (Hangul: 타파계급; Hanja: 打破階級), and establish equal rights to arable land (Hangul: 평균지권; Hanja: 平均地權). Their ideals displayed a new wave of revolutionary public activity in the fight for independence in direct response to the March 1st Movement (Hangul: 3.1운동; Hanja: 三一運動).

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