November 17th is a special day for Koreans.
Though not as widely recognized as national holidays like Liberation Day or Independence
Movement Day, this date has been dedicated specifically to the brave men and women who
valiantly put their lives on the line in the struggle to gain freedom from Japan's colonial
rule.
Which is why for our News Features tonight, Lee Unshin sheds light on their sacrifices
through a story of a third-generation independence movement protestor.
In the early 20th century, Korea suffered under Japanese rule... for some 35 years.
(SOV) "We were teased constantly by Chinese classmates.
They would call us Korean slaves."
90-year-old Oh Hee-ok, is one of the activists who fought to liberate Korea.
Spending her youth in China, even before reaching her teens she joined Korea's resistance movement
against the Japanese army.
(Korean) "My father got captured and was under the
custody of the Japanese imperial military.
I was scared, but I knew that I had to fight and help defeat the Japanese army.
So I started my part as an activist by gathering key information about Japanese troops and
working in close liaison with other groups of activists spread across China."
An activist who later also helped many draftees escape the Japanese troops... the origin of
Oh's legacy can be traced through her family.
Her father, Oh Gwang-seon, was a general fighting against the Japanese Imperial Army in Manchuria,
China.
Her mother, Jung Hyun-sook, carried classified information for the movement.
And Oh's grandfather, Oh In-soo, raised and led an army of civilians to join the resistance.
But unlike her father and grandfather, Oh Hee-ok was only recognized for her contribution
decades later.
In 1990, she received the Medal of Merit for National Foundation,...A prestigious decoration
that should've come even sooner for her mother, Jung Hyun-sook, who posthumously also received
the honor.
(Korean) "I was happy, but mostly I was calm and almost
numb when I received the recognition.
I know there were countless female liberation activists, and yet there's a lack of effort
to track them down.
Sometimes even the children of the activists may not know that their mothers and grandmothers
were fighters."
As of now, some 15,000 are officially recognized as Korea's independence movement activists,
and every year through review, around 12 people are added to the list.
But with Korea marking more than seven decades of freedom this year, preserving historic
records from that time, and acknowledging the efforts and suffering of the activists,
who number far more than 15,000,... is more important than ever.
(standup) Once a prison under Japanese colonial rule,
it is now preserved as a public memorial hall.
Some 70 years ago, thousands of Korean liberation activists suffered at this very place, and
that includes Oh's grandfather Oh In-su, who spent nearly a decade here.
Through the rooms of Seodaemun Prison History Hall, which display the torture and execution
that happened here,... visitors get a sense of the fear and pain the activists suffered.
(Korean) "When I learned about our national history,
I often wondered what I would have done if I had been under such circumstances.
I don't know if I could've acted like the brave activists, and now that I see what they
had been through, I just admire their courage and I have a new found gratitude for my country."
(Korean) "Places like this teach us that this peaceful
nation was earned through the sacrifices of the independence fighters.
And through that we are reminded of the freedom, peace and human rights that we get to enjoy
now."
Mrs. Oh and her family's legacy is also displayed in a local museum.
As she showed me the medal she was given, she reminisced about countless national heroes
who have passed away without their perseverance and tenacity being properly acknowledged.
Now as one of just three living females from the independence movement,... her only hopes..?
For their work to remain in the hearts of all Koreans, even long after they're gone.
(Korean) "To this day I can hear my fellow fighters'
cry for the freedom of Korea and I hope children will also get to know of that.
Let them learn with documents, pictures, and footage, because that's what our country has
been through.
And only through knowing such painful history, can one then ponder how to make this country
stronger and better."
Lee Unshin Arirang News.