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A Brief History of the Kook Min Hur (Korean National Association)
Meanwhile, on the U.S. mainland, in the July 1903, two social organizations - in Los Angeles and San Francisco - had been established under the leadership of the famous patriot Doan Ahn Chang-ho for the mutual benefit of their members. With their membership swelled by Koreans moving to the mainland from Hawaii, these social organizations developed to establish the Kongnip Hyophoe (Public Association) in April 1905 and, at the same time, became political entities with anti-Japanese objectives. The assassination of the pro-Japanese foreign affairs advisor Durham W. Stevens by the Korean patriots Chang In-hwan and Chon Myong-un on March 23, 1908 served to promote spiritual solidarity among all Korean groups on the mainland and led to the need for a unified organization to focus anti-Japanese efforts. In response to this necessity, representatives of the Hawaii Hanin Hapsong Hyophoe and the U.S. Kongnip Hyophoe gathered on October 23, 1908. On November 30 of the same year, they laid the foundation for the unification of overseas Korean associations in the United States. These efforts resulted in the formation of the KooK Min Hur (Korean National Association) on February 1, 1909. In Honolulu on this day, Koreans were filled with such joy and hope that they closed their business and flew Korean National flags in their houses. Furthermore, more than 1,000 Koreans gathered downtown to celebrate. In order to expand and reorganize Korean-American association, the Kook Min Hur was restructured into a North America Regional General Assembly and a Hawaii regional General Assembly but in just two years structure was reinforced by the addition of Siberia and Manchuria Regional General Assemblies. Strengthened by an alliance with the Taedong Pogukhoe (United Patriotic Association) in 1910, the Kook Min Hur changed its name to the Taehanin Kook Min Hur (Korean National Association). Finally, at a meeting in San Francisco on November 8, 1912, its structure was made complete with the formation of the Central Assembly of the Taehanin Kook Min Hur. But the unification movement of Korean-American associations was doomed to wither when, in 1922, the Central Assembly was dissolved. The Hawaii Kook Min Hur, keenly aware of the need for personnel to manage the diplomacy, education, and publishing necessary for strengthening the organization and working toward national liberation, in 1912 invited Pak Yong-man, who had been pursuing the study of political science at the University of Nebraska. Propelled by the opportunity presented by Pak Yong-man's arrival, the Hawaii Kook Min Hur developed into such a fundamental organization of the Korean community that it was granted the police authority by the government of Hawaii. But, because of the factional strife that enveloped leaders of the Korean community, the moribund Hawaii Regional General Assembly was soon virtually dissolved. Alarmed at the prospect of utter dissolution, Hawaii Korean in 1922, following the advice of the Korean Provisional Government in Shanghai, formed their own Hawaii Taehanin Kyomindan (Hawaii Oversea Korean Association) in place of the Hawaii Regional General Assembly. In 1932 representatives of the Taehanin Kyomindan voted to dissolve their association and reestablished the Hawaii Taehanin Kook Min Hur. Starting January 3 of the following year, the Hawaii Taehanin Kook Min Hur, carrying on the founding principles and procedures of the original Kook Min Hur, made a new beginning as it stood in the forefront of support for the independence movement. The Kook Min Hur during the Pacific War participated in the Chaemi Hanjok Yonhap Wiwonhoe (United Committee for Koreans in the United States), which had been formed with the goals of expanding the movement for recovery of the fatherland and the consolidation of efforts of Koreans in the United States. In so doing, they lent strength to the task of diplomatic propaganda and to the formation of the Kwangbokkun (Restoration Army) under the aegis of the Provisional Government. As we have seen here the Hawaii Taehanin Kook Min Hur went through three stages of the organizational changes. From February 1909 through February 1921 was the period of the Taehanin Kook Min Hur Hawaii Regional Assembly; from March 1923 through December 1932, the Hawaii Taehanin Kyomindan; and from then until present, the Taehanin Kook Min Hur. The Kook Min Hur, which was moved its headquarters to the present location on Rooke Avenue in 1947, looks forward to another period of vigorous growth through the participation of the good people who still maintain the traditions of Hawaii's Korean community. |
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