Pak Yol


Pak Yol or Bak Yeol, was a Korean anarchist and independence activist who was convicted of high treason in Japan for conspiring to attack the Imperial House of Japan.

Biography

Pak was born in Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korean Empire. He attended highschool in Seoul but was forced to leave in 1919 due to his suspected participation in the March First Movement. After moving to Tokyo to continue his education he met other student activists, and formed his own anarchist group. Its name satirized the way Koreans were referred to by the authorities as troublemakers. Futei senjin, or the unruly Korean. One notable member of the group was Fumiko Kaneko; the two subsequently became lovers.
Pak was arrested without charge on September 2, 1923, the day after the Great Kantō earthquake. Two days later Kaneko was also detained by police. Based on thin evidence they were eventually charged with high treason for plotting a bomb attack upon the wedding of Crown Prince Hirohito. Both were convicted and sentenced to death on March 25, 1926, but their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment by the Emperor Shōwa. Kaneko died in prison on July 23, 1926, reportedly by suicide.
After 22 years in prison Pak was released in October 1945. He returned to Korea in 1949. In 1950, Pak was captured by the North Korean army.
He died in North Korea on January 17, 1974. He was 71 years old.

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