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Politics1914

Korean Gwangbokgun Government

Members of the Gwonophoe in Vladivostok set up the Korean Gwangbokgun Government with Yi Sang-seol as president and Yi Dong-hwi as vice-president.

Sinhanchon, the Korean quarter of Vladivostok where the Gwoneophoe and the 1914 government were based — 1920
Sinhanchon, the Korean quarter of Vladivostok where the Gwoneophoe and the 1914 government were based — 1920

Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives · Public domain · Source

The Gwonophoe, founded at Sinhanchon in 1911, worked for settlers’ livelihoods and for independence and published the Gwonop sinmun. In 1914, ten years after the Russo-Japanese War, expecting another war between Russia and Japan, it set up this government-in-exile to prepare an armed war of independence.

When the First World War made Russia and Japan allies, Russia banned Korean political activity and the government was dissolved with the Gwonophoe. The Korean National Council was formed in the Maritime Province in 1919.

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States at the time
Russia
Places
Sinhanchon

People

  • Yi Sang-seol1870 – 1917

    leader · Chief envoy to The Hague who founded the Seojeon Seosuk school in Jiandao and led independence groups in the Russian Far East

  • Yi Dong-hwi1873 – 1935

    leader · Vice-president of the Korean Gwangbokgun Government and first Premier of the Provisional Government; founded the Korean Socialist Party

Before and after

Earlier
1913 Songjukhoe
Later
1915 Joseon Sovereignty Restoration Corps