Student independence activists get very belated graduation

Nearly 100 student independence activists who were expelled from their schools for participating in the independence movement against Japanese colonial rule were given a special graduation ceremony on the Aug. 15 Liberation Day holiday...

Hologram of Kim Chan-do, a student independence fighter, addresses the descendants of independence activists gathered at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, on July 15. [BINGGRAE]

Nearly 100 student independence activists who were expelled from their schools for participating in the independence movement against Japanese colonial rule were given a special graduation ceremony on the Aug. 15 Liberation Day holiday.

“Comrades, we stand here today in a free country,” said the hologram of Kim Chan-do, a student independence fighter of Suwon, Gyeonggi, in addressing the descendants of independence activists gathered at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, on July 15.

Kim, who died in 1994, was brought back in hologram form at what was billed as "the world's most belated graduation ceremony," organized by food and beverage company Binggrae.

He was honored along with 93 other late activists who were expelled from their schools for participating in the independence movements during the 1910-45 Japanese annexation of Korea.

Upon his participation in a local independence rally in Suwon, Gyeonggi, in June 1928, Kim was arrested and imprisoned at the notorious Seodaemun Prison in Seoul. Expelled from his school afterward, he was unable to return to school until his death in 1994.

His daughter, Kim Eun-kyung, was among the descendants of independent fighters attending the graduation ceremony.

According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, a total of 2,596 students were independent activists. The 94 who attended the ceremony in Cheonan were those with identifiable photos and whose descendants agreed to take part in the graduation ceremony.

Binggrae also designed graduation albums for the activists and their families, containing not only enhanced photos of the activists but also records of their participation in the independence movement.

“Now that we are here today with our families, we have no regrets,” said Kim’s hologram. “I sincerely thank you for holding this graduation ceremony to remember us.”

Binggrae also has ties with Kim Koo, a leading Korean independence activist and politician during Japanese colonial rule. Kim’s granddaughter Kim Mee is married to Binggrae’s chairman, Kim Ho-yeon.

The company has also been running scholarship programs for descendants of independence activists since 2018.

The Veterans Ministry and the corporation said they will be continuing the special graduation project for more descendants of student activists.

“Usually, when we think of independence activists, we think of Kim Koo and An Jung-geun, but we wanted to let the public know that relatively unknown people, such as women and student activists, had also been part of the independence movement,” said an official of the Veterans Ministry.

Binggrae released a video from the ceremony on its YouTube channel last week. The clip has been viewed over 1.5 million times as of Tuesday.

Korea gained its independence from Japan on Aug. 15, when the Empire of Japan announced its surrender in World War II.

BY ESTHER CHUNG, HA SU-YOUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]