바로가기메뉴

본문 바로가기 주메뉴 바로가기

logo

  • P-ISSN0023-3900
  • E-ISSN2733-9343
  • A&HCI, SCOPUS, KCI

Wellington Chung: Child of the Korean Independence Movement Crushed by Cold War Regimes

Korea Journal / Korea Journal, (P)0023-3900; (E)2733-9343
2014, v.54 no.4, pp.106-146
https://doi.org/10.25024/kj.2014.54.4.106
Vladimir Hlasny

Abstract

Wellington Chung (1927–1963) was a Korean American doctor born and raised inHawaii, striving all his life to move to Korea, and dying in despair in Czechoslovakia. Chung received medical education at Charles University and practiced pathologyin Czechoslovakia for eight years. Chung’s life, however, ended tragically when hecommitted suicide. This study recounts the untold life story of Chung as well as hisKorean American family. Reverend Hyun Soon, Chung’s grandfather, was a nationalistmovement leader. Alice Hyun, Chung’s mother, was labeled Korean Mata Hari. This study argues that Chung was a son of the Korean independence movement whoperished amidst the Cold War. The lives of his mother, grandfather, and uncles influencedChung’s life path. He joined political organizations, wrote essays, and organizedfundraisers in support of North Korea, and wanted to return there afterbecoming a doctor. However, his mother was executed in North Korea around 1956as an alleged U.S. intelligence spy. His uncles were summoned to the U.S. HouseUn-American Activities Committee hearings and harassed with the threat of deportation. Chung himself lost his American citizenship. He had nowhere to return. Hewas trapped in rural Czechoslovakia by the witch hunt of the Cold War regimes.

keywords
Wellington Chung, Alice Hyun, Korean American, Korean Independence Movement, Cold War, Czechoslovakia, Karlovy Vary

Reference

1.

Associated Students of the University of Hawaii. 1946. Ka Palapala (Yearbook).

2.

Boříková, Jana, and Otakar Bořík 1996. Padesát let spolku lékařů v Karlových Varech (Fifty Years of the Association of Physicians in Karlovy Vary). Association of Physicians in Karlovy Vary.

3.

Hyun, David. 2002. Hyeonsun moksa-wa daehan dongnip undong (Minister Hyun Soon and His Korean Independence Movement). Hanguk Dongnip Yeoksa Hyeophoe (Korean Independence Historical Association).

4.

Hyun, Peter. 1986. Man Sei! The Making of a Korean American. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

5.

Hyun, Peter. 1995. In the New World: The Making of a Korean American. Honolulu:University of Hawai‘i Press.

6.

Holmes, T. Michael. 1994. The Specter of Communism in Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.

7.

Jung, Byung Joon. 2012. “Hyeon Aeliseu iyagi: Eoneu jinbojuuija-ui sam-gwa pagukjeok jongmal” (Untold Story of Alice Hyun: Life and Tragic Last of Korean-American Communist). Yeoksa bipyeong (Critical Review of History) 99: 373–408.

8.

Jung, Byung Joon. 2013. “Haebang jikhu juhan migun gongsanjuuija geurup-gwa Hyeon Aeliseu” (The Communist Group in the United States Army Forces in Korea [USAFIK] and Their Relation with Alice Hyun after the Liberation of Korea). Hanguk geunhyeondaesa yeongu (Journal of Korean Modern and Contemporary History) 65: 166–231.

9.

Kansai University, ed. 1925. Kansai daigaku koyukai gakuyukai kai’in meibo 關西大學校友會學友會會員名簿 (Kansai University Alumni List). Kansai University Alumni Association.

10.

Lowensteinová, Miriam, and Jaroslav Olša Jr. 2014. Han Hung-su: otec československékoreanistiky (Han Hung-su: Father of Korean Studies in Czechoslovakia). Prague: Nová vlna.

11.

Olša, Jaroslav, Jr., and Andreas Schirmer. 2012. “An Unsung Korean Hero in Central Europe: The Life and Work of the Multi-Talented Scholar Han Hung-su (1909–?).” Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch 87: 1–13.

12.

Pultr, Alois. 1949. “Učebnice korejštiny: Mluvnice” (Korean Language Textbook:Conversation). PhD diss., Charles University.

Korea Journal