The Story of Shinheung Military Academy

Did you know that there was a school specifically designed to train Independence activists in the Korean Independence Movement? In order to protect the peninsula at the time, Independence activists within the country and outside of the country decided to establish a school with the goal of protecting Joseon’s Independence and the growing Korean nationalist movement. At the school, the students were taught about how to battle the Japanese in Warfare in Manchuria and they were also taught Korean history and many other subjects to protect them while they participate in the movement. Various situations led to the establishment of the school, the main cause was the march 1st movement, a series of large-scale independence demonstrations. Independence, schools, religions, and social alliance groups aided the organization and the execution of a massive anti-Japanese movement called the March 1 Independence Movement. After representatives of independence activists discussed with senior citizens and planned the incident, the students spread it widely to the public. During the protests, Japan massacred countless citizens using violent suppression methods.

 

Numerous students and independence activists were arrested on the spot. Those who shouted, “Long live Korean independence!” came forward and defended the country in the absence of King Gojong. Independence activist Yi Dong-nyeong participated in this situation, and took refuge at the end of the incident. He then, organized a provisional government of the Republic of Korea with Kim Gu in Shanghai. Yi Dong-nyeong already had plans to establish a school to train independence activists from the early 20th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, he made plans to establish an independent military base called the SinMinHoe (New People’s Society). However, in 1909, the first independent military base was destroyed in Manchuria. A few years later, in 1911, it was established as an emerging lesson center. Since then, Yi Dong-nyeong and his students prepared a plan for Shinheung Military Academy and began construction with the goal of promoting the idea of saving the country and anti-Japanese spirit to young people gathering in Korea to foster them as independence activists.

 

Looking at what the students learned, the main subjects were military training, Korean language, Korean history, and elementary, middle, and high school obligatory subjects. The elementary military team was organized in the current Tonghua region(Jilin) to conduct three and six months of military training. Teachers at Shinheung Military Academy trained independence activists and the overall sense of independence through this education. However, after a few years of establishment, a tragedy was caused by Japan. In June 1920, the Japanese army murdered all of the instructors and students of the Shinheung Military Academy in retaliation for the Korean Army’s victory in the Battle of Bong-o. And in July 1920, surviving students and teachers of the situation closed the Shinheung Military Academy. Shinheung Military Academy produced about 2,000 graduates by 1920, and they played a significant role in the righteous army of Hongbeomdo and the military sentiment of Kim Jwajin. Therefore, many experts call Shinheung Military Academy a training base for the independent army.

 

 

Written by: Kamilah Dreux

Originally from Washington D.C , Current 4th year university student, Candidate for a Bachelor of Arts in Korean Language Flagship and Korean History at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, Exchange student at Korea University and Intern at VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea).