Police display medal awarded to 'pro-Japanese' officer for suppressing anti-Japanese righteous army

Taegeukjang Award Certificate (above) and Taegeukjang (below left) given to police officer Park during the Korean Empire period, which is on display at the Korean National Police Museum. Reporter Jeon Hyun-jin

It has been confirmed that the Korean National Police Museum has been displaying documents referring to the "anti-Japanese righteous army" during the Korean Empire as "riot" and a medal awarded to pro-Japanese traitor Lee Wan-yong. The museum took over the exhibits when it opened in 2005 and did not realize it until recently.

Officer Mr. Park’s "Certificate of Payment," "Taegeukjang," and "Taegeukjang Award Certificate" were displayed in the “Police of Modern Period" exhibition space on the fourth floor of the Police Museum in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, which Kyunghyang Newspaper visited on June 30. The museum's explanation reads, "Taegeukjang, Taegeukjang Award Certificate, and Certificate of Payment to the bereaved family of the deceased Park who died while suppressing the mob in 1908.” The officer was in a position called “Chongsoon,” the second lowest rank in the Korean Empire, above the rank of Sunsa, which is equivalent to a chief constable today.

As a result of the report on July 3, the “riot” referred to in the explanation refers to an anti-Japanese righteous army. Hong Young-ki, a former professor emeritus of history at Suncheon National University and a leading authority on anti-Japanese militant activities in the Honam region, was commissioned by Kyunghyang Shinmun to confirm the existence of Park through various records, including the Korean Empire's official gazettes, the list of dead, and the Hwangseong Newspaper.

Park was promoted to the rank of Chongsoon on September 12, 1907, and was assigned to the Gurye police box in South Jeolla Province where he had several military police assistants under his command. On September 19, something happened to Park, who was left alone after the assistants were ordered to withdraw by a higher military police unit. This is recorded in the “Jeonnam Mobilization History”, which records the process of suppressing the righteous army in South Jeolla Province.

"On September 19, the rebels gradually increased in number and entered the Gurye police box with a total of 40 members. Park was on guard by himself, and when they suddenly attacked him, he had no time to fight back and tried to escape over the stone wall, but a bullet hit him and he died." The “rebels” here refer to the unit of Kim Dong-shin, a righteous army commander who was active in the area around Jirisan Mountain. Kim was a representative figure in the Honam region, which was the center of the righteous army’s activities at the time, and the government awarded the Order of Merit for the National Foundation in 1977.

Park, who died about three years later, was awarded Taegeukjang with the plum flower symbolizing the imperial family of Korea, on the eve of the fall of the Korean Empire. The Taegeukjang is one of the medals of the Korean Empire and the award of the medal was led by then Prime Minister Lee Wan-yong. The recipients of the medal, including Park, were Japanese and Korean military officers who were recognized for their contribution to fighting the Korean righteous army.

Hong pointed out, "The award of Taegeukjang was carried out by the pro-Japanese traitorous government led by Lee Wan-yong and the medal was given to those who took the lead in colonization or those who were injured while fighting against the Korean righteous army," adding, "The misleading exhibition to proudly highlight the fact that he died while serving as a police officer of the Korean Empire can distort the correct view of history for teenagers."

A museum official explained, "The items were donated to the police in the 1980s by the bereaved family and were handed over when the police museum opened in 2005," adding, "It was the only exhibits related to the Korean Empire period, and we did not know in detail because there was no data on who the rebels were referring to.” The police museum said it decided to remove the exhibits after Kyunghyang Shinmun began reporting on them.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.