Yu Chin-san


Yu Jin-san was a controversial South Korean politician, resistance fighter and activist. His birth name was Youngpil, but as was customary in the period, he subsequently adopted additional names; Chinsan and Okgye.

Life

Yu was a child of poor farmers in Geumsan county. In May 1919, he took part in the March 1st Movement. In 1923, he graduated Bosung High School and studied at Waseda University in Japan, but dropped out in his third year and returned to work for agricultural organizations in Korea.
In 1933, he left Korea for Shanghai and was appointed as liaison to the Provisional Government of Korea. In 1934, he was arrested in China by the Japanese police and repatriated to Korea. He managed to get away to the Manchuria region of Northeast China as a liaison of the Provisional Government of Korea. He was arrested again and deported back to Korea where he was imprisoned until the end of the Japanese occupation.
In 1945, Yu was released and joined Baikuisa, the right wing terrorist group involved in the assassination of Kim Gu among others. In 1949, he joined Banminteukui, but the organization was soon disbanded. In 1950, he ran for the National Assembly in the new Republic of Korea, but was defeated. He succeeded in the 1954 elections and served as leader of opposition party for a long time. He was a member of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th sessions of the National Assembly of Korea.