대한민국임시정부의 국내비밀결사 義勇團의 활동

The Operation of Uiyongdan, Secret Society of the Korean Provisional Government

The Korean Provisional Government of Shanghai made every effort to gain a foothold at home so as to overcome geographical limits and support the Korean independence movement. As part of its efforts, it organized a secret society called Uiyongdan in January 1920. The effective leader was An Chang-ho, Head of Local Publicity Department and the promoters were Son Jung-do, Yoon Hyun-jin, Kim Goo, Kim Lip, Kim Soon-ae and Kim Chul, all of whom were the key figures of the Provisional Government. Son Jung-do and Kim Suk-hwang, a member of Hwanghaedo Provisional Legislature and Publicity Department, were appointed as Leader and Manager respectively to recruit Uiyongdan members and coordinate its activities at home. Uiyongdan set up Jidans(branches) and Boondans(subbranches) in the areas of Pyongannamdo, Hwanghado and Seoul. They were equally distributed across the areas and each of them attempted to expand its area. These efforts paved the way for Uiyongdan to gain a foothold at home. After gaining its foothold at home, Uiyongdan dared to raise war funds and intensify its military actions and propaganda activities. The raised war funds were used to financially support the Provisional Government. The fund raising was spearheaded by Joonghwa Boondan, Hanchun Jibu and several Uiyongdan members like Kim Suk-hwang. A small part of the raised funds was used for the management of Uiyongdan but most of them were sent to the Provisional Government under the responsibility of Kim Suk-hwang. Soon after his arrest, unfortunately, delivery of war funds was discontinued. Uiyongdan carried out its military actions and propaganda activities in close cooperation with Independence Army Headquarters based in Seogando. The Provisional Government then had the intention to unite many independence movement organizations in Manchuria to build the forces needed to wage an independence war. In the process of it, Uiyongdan and Independence Army Headquarters closely cooperated in the bombing of Pyungnam Provincial Office·Pyungang Offfice on August 3, 1920. Prior to the bombing, Uiyongdan accepted Kim Sung-geun and Im Deuk-san from Gugukmoheomdan, who provided the explosives for the bombing. As part of its propaganda activities, Uiyongdan also distributed various warning notices and Provisional Government gazettes to cause agitation among the people. Even after the bombing, the bombers shot and killed the Japanese police on their escape. Uiyongdan’s patriotic deeds like this were a serious threat to the Japanese imperialists. Uiyongdan’s activities had finally been discovered by the Japanese police and a large number of its members were rounded up and sent to prison. After Kim Suk-hwang was arrested in Simyang and over 200 persons involved were rounded up, Uiyongdan couldn’t continue to exist. Though Uiyongdan lasted less than a year from its organization to breakup, its activities has great significance for Korean independence movement in that it attempted to gain a foothold at home from which to carry out an independence movement and help Korean Provisional Government have a supporting base at home.