미주지역 민족운동과 洪焉

Earn Hong s Independence Movement in the America during the Japanese Colonial Period

Earn Hong(1881~1951) had spent the two third of his lifetime in the United States since he emigrated to Hawaii in 1904 until his death. He worked in the Korean National Association of North America, especially for the news organ, The New Korea. The newspaper contains hundreds of articles written under his pen names such as ‘Sailor of East Sea’, ‘Chusun’ and ‘Hae-ong’. These articles reveal his dedication to the cultural development of Korean-American society. In addition, he played an important role in raising funds for the independence movement with Chinese people in the South America as well as the North America including the Sates and Canada. As a devoted patriot, he kept a balance between tradition and innovation, making an effort to recover the independence of Korea. He generated literary works in diverse genre and fascinated readers with timely critiques and articles. Furthermore, his knowledge in Chinese classics and fluency in Chinese brought him literary reputation among Chinese people in States so that he was able to lead the Korean-Chinese Solidarity with Chinese people. His interest in literature and history led him to introduce the biographies of independence movement leaders, as well as the histories of the Korean National Association of North America and Korean-American immigrant society. Under the influence of Chang-ho Ahn, he actively participated in the Korean Young Academy from its establishment. He emphasized nationalism and opposed Socialism and Communism. Although he was not known as a supreme theorist, it can be said that he proposed reasonable and gradual opinions grounded on common sense.