Chae-ho, Shin: Korea’s Kõtoku [1880 - Feb. 21, 1936]

Korea.- History of anarchism

"Lives of the Asian Anarchists" No. 2, about Shin Chae-ho, one of the founders of anarchism in Korea.
Shin Chae-ho, a veteran of the Korean anarchist movement and regarded as one of its "fathers", was born in 1880 in Chongju, Chungchong province. In many respects, his life bore a striking resemblance to that of Kõtoku Shüsui, the first Japanese anarchist [see LI 1]. By the age of 20, like Kõtoku, he was the foremost Korean journalist of his time, having worked on the prominent Hansong News and Dae Han Daily. His main reputation was as a writer of elegant prose, and his talent was put to good revolutionary use when, in 1923, he was asked to compose the draft of the Korean Revolutionary Manifesto. It was issued by the ’Band of Heroes’ (Eiyuldan - see ’Chronology’ in LI1),1 a revolutionary terrorist group responsible for a campaign of anti-Japanese violence in the 1920’s. Similarly, Kõtoku’s journalistic gift was put at the service of the Ashio copper miners in 1907 when, at the request of their representative, he wrote a petition to the Emperor on their behalf. The protest was against copper poisoning caused by the mining company’s failure to take safety measures; this incident marked the beginning of Japan’s continuing history of fatal pollution problems.