Sin Chai-Ho (1880–1936)

Sin Chai-Ho, a veteran of the Korean anarchist movement regarded as one of its “fathers,” was a historian as well as a fighter for the independence movement. He participated in the Korean Provisional Government established in Shanghai in 1919, but he insisted on revolutionary rather than moderate methods for achieving independence.

In 1921 Sin Chai-Ho lived in Beijing and communicated with Korean and Chinese anarchists. In 1923, he was asked to compose the draft of the Jo-sun huk-myung sun-un (Korean Revolutionary Manifesto) issued by the Eu-yul-dan (“Band of Heroes”), a revolutionary terrorist group responsible for a campaign of anti-Japanese violence. In the Manifesto he appealed to a “mutuality of destruction and construction,” refusing any kind of compromise with Japan. He actively supported Korean anarchists in Beijing, writing anarchist articles for journals such as Jung-eu kong-bo (Justice), Dong-bang (Asia), and Tal-whan (Conquest). In 1927, in Nanjing, he became a member of the Dong-bang mu-jung-bu ju-eu-ja yung-meng (League of Asian Anarchists). He was arrested for participating in a “direct action.” He also wrote an anarchist novel, Yong-gwa yong-eu de-kyuk-jun (*The Great War of Dragons().

References and Suggested Readings