Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-joon Visits Patriotic Figure O Sung-gyu Ahead of 80th Liberation Day

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] Ahead of the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day, Suwon Mayor Lee Jae-joon visited the Veterans Care Home on August 14 to extend condolences to patriotic figure O Sung-gyu.

Patriotic figure O Sung-gyu, 102, conducted anti-Japanese independence activities with Yi Young-soon and Cho Seung-hoe among others, centered around Donggwang Middle School in Fushun, Manchuria, where he established a secret organizational network during the Japanese colonial period.

When the organizational network was exposed to Japanese authorities, he escaped from Manchuria and conducted independence activities while working in the Korean Liberation Army's Third Detachment in Anhui Province, China.

In May 1945, he received United States-Korean joint special training (O.S.S) and was preparing for domestic operations when liberation came. After liberation, he served as a special envoy in the Shanghai district of the 'Korean Liberation Army Military Special Dispatch Unit,' which was organized to protect overseas Koreans and conduct civil propaganda work.

Amid political turmoil after liberation, he moved to Japan and resided there. He later expressed his desire to the Veterans Affairs Ministry to "spend the remaining years of my life in my homeland," and returned to Korea in August 2023, entering the Suwon Veterans Care Home (97 Gwanggyo Mountain Road, Jangan-gu).

Mayor Lee Jae-joon said on the day, "I hope you enjoy good health for many years to come," and added, "I sincerely thank patriotic figure O Sung-gyu and all independence merit claimants for your sacrifice and dedication for our nation's independence."