'Emperor of Chinese cinema' Kim Deok-rin among 283 independence activists to be honored on Liberation Day

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs announced it will honor 283 people as independence activists on the occasion of the 81st Liberation Day, including Kim Yeong-ho, a mine worker who led a March First Movement rally and died for his country, Kim Deok-rin, a celebrated actor in anti-Japanese films, and Choe Jun-rye, the wife of independence leader Kim Ku, who supported the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

Kim Yeong-ho, Kim Se-cheol and Nam Gi-seok — all recipients of the Order of Patriots — worked as miners at the Jiksan gold mine in Ipjang-myeon, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province during the Japanese colonial period. In March 1919, they led more than 100 fellow miners in a march on a Japanese military police substation in Yangdae-ri, Ipjang-myeon, and were shot and killed by Japanese military police.

Kim Deok-rin, widely known by the name Kim Yeom and a recipient of the Order of National Foundation (Aejokjang), was a nephew by marriage of Kim Gyu-sik, foreign minister of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and was celebrated in China as the "Emperor of Cinema."

In 1924, he enrolled at Namhwa Hagwon, a nationalist education institution in Shanghai run by his uncle Kim Gyu-sik, where he developed his anti-Japanese consciousness and later provided behind-the-scenes support to the Provisional Government. He is particularly noted for starring in numerous films in the 1930s that stoked anti-Japanese sentiment as Japan's continental aggression intensified, earning praise for giving Korean and Chinese people who longed for freedom and peace the courage to persevere.

Choe Jun-rye, also a recipient of the Order of National Foundation, was the wife of Kim Ku. In 1911, the Japanese Government-General of Korea fabricated the "Anak Incident" to suppress independence activists in Hwanghae Province and arrested her husband; she spent four years supporting him through his imprisonment.

A teacher at Ansin Girls' School in Anak, she was a leading voice in the women's enlightenment movement. After going into exile in Shanghai in 1920, she supported her husband's work as a key figure in the Provisional Government and was placed under Japanese surveillance, designated a "subversive Korean."

Of the 283 people honored on this year's 81st Liberation Day, 65 received the Order of National Foundation — 19 with the Order of Patriots (Aegugjang) and 46 with the Order of National Foundation (Aejokjang) — while 29 received the National Foundation Medal and 189 received a presidential commendation. Since the establishment of the South Korean government, a total of 19,059 people have been honored as independence activists through this Liberation Day, including 11,999 with the Order of National Foundation, 1,600 with the National Foundation Medal and 5,460 with presidential commendations.

The ministry identified the honorees by reviewing independence movement records — including lists of those killed during the March First Movement and criminal registries — alongside on-site investigations. "By honoring cultural figures, women and laborers who had not been properly recognized, we have been able to shed light on the history of Korea's independence movement in a more three-dimensional way," the ministry said.

Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Kwon O-eul said the ministry would "work to find and honor even one more independence activist, so that under the principle of 'extraordinary sacrifice, extraordinary reward,' the spirit of self-sacrifice shown by those who threw themselves into the struggle for independence without regard for their own well-being can be remembered and carried forward by the public and future generations."