Two descendants of Park Do-cheol, an independence activist who died while leading a protest against Japanese colonialism, recently donated 15 million won ($10,800) that the family received as veteran's benefits to Sookmyung Women's University.
According to Sookmyung University, its assistant professor Park Myung-hyun and her father visited the school on April 15 to make the donation, expressing their wish that it would be used to fund scholarships for descendants of freedom fighters at the university.
"It’s my great-grandfather's blood money and I wanted to use it for something meaningful, rather than just spend it," she was quoted as saying.
The freedom fighter Park, who was an officer of the Korean Empire before the Japanese annexation in 1910, led a protest against Japan's colonization of the country at Jincheon-gun, North Chungcheong Province, on April 3, 1919. He was shot to death by Japanese soldiers, and shortly afterwards his mother was also shot and killed.
The protest was part of nationwide rallies sparked by the non-violent March First Movement that started in Seoul.
Despite Park's contributions, his bereaved family suffered from poverty for decades. It was only in 2021 that the freedom fighter was posthumously given the Patriotic Medal, the fourth-highest level of the Order of Merit for National Foundation -- the delay largely due to the loss of related records.
The Park family has been collecting the monthly benefits they received from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to support students financially, in addition to donating 10 million won to a memorial for the pro-independence movement in Jincheon last year.
Sookmyung University said it is seeking out descendants of freedom fighters to honor the family's wishes.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
