Li Eul-Kyu (1894–1972)

Li Eul-Kyu, a revolutionary and anarchist theorist sometimes called “the Korean Kropotkin,” was the elder brother of Li Jung-Kyu. He was an active member of the Je-jung-kuk jo-sun mu-jung-bu ju-eu-ja yun-meng (Korean Anarchist Federation in China), founded in Beijing in 1924. Complying with a request from young Chinese anarchists, the Li brothers, along with Yu Ja-Myung, Jung Hwa-Am, Baik Jung-Gi, and Li Hoe-Young, participated as members of the preparatory committee of the National Labor University in Shanghai, which was proposed and supported by Chinese anarchists.

In June 1927, Li Eul-Kyu participated with Chinese anarchists in the Chung-Yung People’s Training Center, a practical movement to establish a farmers’ self-ruling district covering an area of about half of Fukien Province, a region comprising about 15 million people. In 1929, Li Eul-Kyu organized the Je-man han-in mu-jung-bu ju-ye-ja yun-meng (Korean Anarchist Federation in Manchuria). He worked for General Kim Joa-Jin’s Han-jok chong-yun-hap-hoi (General League of Koreans). In 1930, as the country was under Japanese occupation, he and his brother were arrested while they were discussing the reconstruction of the Korean anarchist movement. After the liberation of Korea in 1945, Li Eul-Kyu participated actively in political parties in South Korea.

References and Suggested Readings