15 Facts About Yi Gwangsu

Yi Gwangsu was a Korean writer, Korean independence activist, and later collaborator with Imperial Japan.

Yi Gwangsu was born on February 1,1892 in Chongju, North Pyongan Province, Joseon.

Yi Gwangsu was taken in by Pak Ch'an-myong, a local leader of the native Korean religion Donghak.

Yi Gwangsu went back to Japan in 1907, and transferred into Meiji Gakuin.

Yi Gwangsu graduated from Meiji Gakuin in March 1910, and returned to Korea.

Yi Gwangsu then became a teacher at the Osan School in Chongju, and its headmaster in 1911.

Yi Gwangsu was considered a vocal reformist and harsh critic of Confucianism.

Yi Gwangsu fell seriously ill with a lung disease in 1918.

Yi Gwangsu was charged, tried, and sentenced in absentia to nine months in prison.

Yi Gwangsu was briefly arrested at the border owing to his previous sentencing in 1919, but was released soon afterwards.

Yi Gwangsu eagerly adopted the name Kayama Mitsurou as soon as the Soshi-kaimei policy came into effect.

Yi Gwangsu fell in love with the woman who nursed him back to health, Ho Yong-suk.

Yi Gwangsu divorced his first wife that year, and married Ho in 1921.

Yi Gwangsu had three sons, Lee Jin-keun, Lee Pong-keun, and Lee Yung-keun ; and two daughters, Chung-Nan Lee Kim and Chung-Wha Lee Iyengar.

Yi Gwangsu read a number of Japanese authors, including Toson Shimazaki, Kenjiro Tokutomi, Kinoshita Naoe, and Natsume Soseki.