Chief Leader Kang Hye-won of the Women's Patriotic Corps, This Month's Independence Activist

One-Month Related Exhibition at the Outdoor Special Exhibition Hall of the Independence Hall

Independence Activist Kang Hye-won

Kang Hye-won (1885?1982), a pioneer of the women's movement in the Korean American community in the United States, has been selected as the Independence Activist of the Month. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, the Independence Hall of Korea, and the Liberation Association announced this decision on the 30th of last month and stated that a related exhibition will be held for a month at the outdoor special exhibition hall of the Independence Hall of Korea.

Kang Hye-won, originally from Pyeongyang, Pyeongnam Province, emigrated to Hawaii, USA, in 1905 with her mother, Hwang Maria (1865?1937). In April 1913, she and her mother organized the Korean Women's Association in Honolulu and began the women's movement. That same year, she married Kim Seong-gwon (1875?1960), a Japanese-educated student, and adopted the American custom of changing her surname, becoming active under the name Kim Hye-won.

In 1919, when the March 1st Movement occurred, Kang Hye-won met Ahn Chang-ho in Danube, California. This meeting led to the formation of the New Korean Women's Association, where she served as secretary-general. She then unified various Korean American women's organizations to establish the Korean Patriotic Women's Corps and served as its first general leader. This organization supported the finances of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and backed the Korean National Association. Additionally, it carried out various activities for Korean relief efforts and education.

Kang Hye-won devoted herself as a key executive in both the headquarters and branches of the Korean Patriotic Women's Corps, contributing to the independence movement. She passed away on May 31, 1982, and was buried in Los Angeles. In 2016, her remains were repatriated along with those of her husband and interred at Daejeon National Cemetery. The government awarded her the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1995.

Thanks to the strong support of her family, Kang Hye-won was able to carry out independence activities within the Korean American community. Her mother, Hwang Maria, was a pioneer of the women's movement in the Korean community in Hawaii, leading the Korean Women's Association and raising funds for the independence movement. Her husband, Kim Seong-gwon, emigrated to the United States in 1904 and worked as a farm laborer while participating in the Korean United Association, a unified Korean organization in Hawaii. From the mid-1930s, he served as chairman and in other roles at Heungsadan. Kang Young-seung (1888?1987), her eldest brother who was the first in the Korean American community to earn a doctorate in law, was active in the Korean National Association. His wife, Kang Won-shin (1887?1977), worked alongside Kang Hye-won in the Korean Patriotic Women's Corps and other women's movements.