Hong Myung-hee (1880-1968) was a Korean writer, media proprietor, social activist, and politician.
1. Life
Hong Myung-hee was born in Goesan, North Chungcheong Province. He spent time studying in Tokyo around the same time as Choe Nam-seon and Yi Kwang-su.
In 1910, Hong’s father Hong Beom-sik committed suicide when Korea was annexed to Japan. His father’s death was a critical turning point in Hong’s life. Hong stopped his studies in Japan and left for China in 1912, where he founded the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai and campaigned for Korean independence in Singapore and other countries before returning to Korea in 1918.
Hong was sentenced to two years and six months in prison for leading the March 1st Movement in 1919. After his release he taught at Osan School and Hwimun School, and also served as the editor in chief at the Dong-A Ilbo and president of the Sidae Ilbo. He helped found the nationalist organization Singanhoe in 1927 and became a main target of surveillance by Japan. In 1929 he was arrested and imprisoned on the charge of violating the National Security Law. He served his time and was released in 1932.
From 1928 to 1939, Hong serialized the novel Imkkeokjeong (임꺽정 Im Kkeokjeong) in the Chosun Ilbo, suspending the series a few times due to his imprisonment and health issues. Toward the end of the colonial period, he stopped writing Imkkeokjeong and lived like a recluse to avoid being coerced to participate in pro-Japanese activities.
After Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule, the Korean Peninsula was embroiled in political upheaval. Concerned about the division of the country, Hong set out to unite people with a moderate political view. In October 1947, he founded the right-leaning centralist Democratic Independence Party and was instrumental in having politicians such as Kim Gu and Kim Kyung-sik attend the North-South Joint Conference in April 1948.
After the conference, Hong remained in North Korea and was appointed a vice premier when the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was established. Until his death in 1968, he served as the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, as well as the head of the Science Committee, and the chairman of the Olympic Committee of the DPRK.
2. Writing
Although there are only a few literary works written by Hong Myung-hee, the epic novel Imkkeokjeong is a representative historical novel from colonial Korea and a monument to the history of modern Korean fiction. Imkkeokjeong began to be serialized in 1928 and ran until 1939, but it was never finished. It was published even when Hong was in prison, as an act of defiance through writing. The nationalist movement had slowed down at the time, and Hong aimed to contribute to the preservation of the national spirit by richly reproducing the language and customs unique to Korea through Imkkeokjeong.
Imkkeokjeong centers on a real historical figure of the same name, who was a bandit during the mid-Joseon Dynasty recorded in the Joseonwangjosillok (조선왕조실록 Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.) Hong fictionalized the story of Im Kkeokjeong as a man who led the common people as they defied the ruling class. Most historical novels from Korea’s colonial period focused on the power struggle and love affairs of the royal and aristocratic classes. Imkkeokjeong, however, painted a realistic portrayal of the daily lives and struggles of the lower classes who suffered from the injustice of feudalism.
The novel contains a rich collection of folk languages and vivid illustrations that paint a well-rounded picture of the society and customs of the Joseon Dynasty. It was possible for Hong to achieve such a literary feat due to his background as a son of a prestigious family whose household consisted of several dozens of people, including servants from whom he was personally able to learn the customs and linguistic behavior of different social classes, as well as his interest in the works of Russia’s naturalist writers during his study abroad.
Hong’s Imkkeokjeong became an important predecessor for epic Korean novels that were written from the people’s perspectives, including Hwang Sok-yong’s Jang Gilsan (장길산 Jang Gilsan) and Jo Jung-Rae’s Taebaeksanmaek (태백산맥 Taebaek Mountain Range).
