Hong Myeong-hee (1888-1968) was born in Goisan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do during the colonial period. He was known as one of three Korean geniuses of that time, along with Yi Gwang-su and Choe Nam-seon.
Hong Myeong-hee (1888-1968) was born in Goisan-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do during the colonial period. He was known as one of three Korean geniuses of that time, along with Yi Gwang-su and Choe Nam-seon. His father Hong Beom-sik committed suicide on the night of August 29, 1910, when King Sunjong announced the signing of the treaty by which the country became a Japanese colony. His last words were to the effect that“You must regain the homeland. Do not ever become close to the Japanese.”Hong Myeong-hee strove to uphold his father’s last words throughout his life. During the March 1919 Independence Movement, he led other activists in Goisan and was jailed. In the late 1920s, he was an ardent member of the Singanhoe (New Korea Society) and was imprisoned for 14 months. His novel Im Keok-jeong was published in The Chosun Ilbo as a daily serial for 13 years from 1928 to 1940. The novel was referred to as one of the best Korean dictionary. Reading the story about a Korean version of Robin Hood was a great consolation for Koreans who were suffering under the harsh colonial rule of Imperial Japan. In 1939, when the Japanese colonists’ iron-fist rule became harsher, he moved to Chang-dong and lived there as a hermit for about five years. He never collaborated with the Japanese despite his poverty. He served as a professor at Yonhi College, as the Principal of Osan School, and as the president of the Sidae Ilbo.