Lee Bong-chang

Lee Bong-chang
Lee Bong-chang arrested
Korean name
Hangul	이봉창
Hanja
Revised Romanization	I Bong-chang
McCune–Reischauer	Yi Pongch'ang

Lee Bong-chang (August 10, 1900 - October 10, 1932) was a Korean independence activist during the Japanese occupation of Korea. In 1932, he attempted unsuccessfully to assassinate Japanese emperor Hirohito with a hand grenade, which became known as the Sakuradamon Incident.

Born in Hanseongbu (present-day Seoul) to Lee Jin-gyu (이진규, 李鎭奎), Lee Bong-chang was raised in indigent circumstances. He graduated from Munchang Elementary School in Yongsan, later working as a shop clerk and an apprentice railroad engineer. In 1925, he traveled to Japan with his older brother, Lee Beom-tae. He was adopted by a Japanese family in Osaka and took on the Japanese name Kinoshita Shoichi (木下昌一).

In 1931, Lee Bong-chang traveled to Shanghai where he met Kim Gu, president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and a leader in the Korean independence movement. Lee joined the Korea Patriotic Legion, which Kim had organized, and made plans to assassinate Hirohito, the Japanese emperor.

After obtaining grenades, Lee made an oath at Kim Hae San's residence on December 13, 1931, saying: "I do swear, with singleness of heart, to become a member of the Korea Patriotic Legion, which is dedicated to restoring independence and liberty to our fatherland, and to slaughter the enemy's leader." A commemorative photograph was then taken with Lee holding a hand grenade in each hand. He then set off for Tokyo on December 17.

On January 8, 1932 at the Sakuradamon (櫻田門) gate of Tokyo's Imperial Palace, Lee Bong-chang hurled a pair of hand grenades at Hirohito. One of Hirohito's guards was injured, but the Japanese emperor escaped harm. Lee was arrested on the spot. He was sentenced to death in a secret trial, and was hanged at Ichigaya Prison.