Robert Hyung-chan Kim

10.18399/acta.2009.12.2.005

Korean Provisional Government in Exile Korean Commission in Washington D.C. March First Independence Movement of 1919 Korean Immigration to Hawai’i Ch’ŏnnyŏng Hyŏn Clan

This study, primarily based on the unpublished manuscripts of Soon Hyun, presents a bird’s eye view of his biography with emphasis on three major aspects of his involvement in the overall Korean independence movement. First, it tells the story of how Hyun was involved in planning and executing the March First Independence Movement of 1919 in Korea with leaders from the three religious groups, namely Christianity, Buddhism and Ch’ŏndogyo. Second, the study presents Soon Hyun’s activities in preparing for the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government in Exile in Shanghai, China. Particularly, his involvement with An Ch’ang-ho and Yi Tong-hwi, the two towering figures in the provisional government, is presented in detail. Third, his work with the Korean Commission in Washington D.C. that was created by Syngman Rhee, the first president of the provisional government, is told in great detail with emphasis on why he was appointed to succeed Kim Kyu-sik, the first head of the Commission, on what he tried to do in his effort to expand the provisional government’s diplomatic activities in Washington, D.C. and on how and why he was dismissed by Syngman Rhee. In addition, the study presents Soon Hyun as the second Korean minister of Chŏngdong Methodist Church in Seoul, who expanded the church membership through his dynamic preaching and ceaseless devotion to the church’s development. It also tells the story of his involvement in Korean immigration to Hawaii as an interpreter, who later published his P’owa yuramgi, a record of his observations of Hawaii.