Ji Cheong-cheon

Who was Ji Cheong-cheon?

Ji Cheong-Cheon, also known as Yi Cheong-Cheon was a Korean independence activist during the period of Japanese rule. He later became a South Korean politician. His name was originally Yi Dae Hyong but took up the nom de guerre Ji Cheong-Cheon, meaning Earth and Blue Sky, while leading Korean guerrilla forces against the Japanese.

He was a 1914 graduate of the Japanese military academy; however, he defected to the Korean guerilla forces in 1919, bringing with him knowledge of modern military techniques when he was Imperial Japanese Army lieutenant. His skills were appreciated by the Korean guerilla forces who made him the superintendent of the Sinheung Military Academy where new leaders of the Korean forces were being trained.

In 1940, he became the commander-in-chief of the Korean Liberation Army sponsored by the Chinese Nationalists. During the Second World War, he invited General Hong Sa Ik, the highest ranking Korean officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, to defect and join the Korean Liberation Army but the invitation was declined.

Following Korea's liberation, he served as a member of the Korean National Assembly. General Ji Cheong-Cheon died in 1959. Ji was posthumously honored by the government of the Republic of Korea with the Order of Independence Merit for National Foundation in 1962.