Founder of Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine, Late Shin Kwang-yeol, Awarded Presidential Citation for Independence Merit

Independence activist Cheongpa Shin Gwang-yeol, who was awarded the Presidential Citation for Independence Meritorious Service.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital announced on the 16th that Cheongpa Shin Gwang-yeol (1903?1980), the father of the hospital's founder Dr. Shin Jun-sik and a Korean medicine doctor who devoted himself to the anti-Japanese independence movement, was posthumously awarded the Presidential Citation for Independence Merit.

Shin Gwang-yeol, originally from Bukcheong, Hamgyeongnam-do, was identified as a leader of the large-scale anti-Japanese protest movement held ahead of the 11th anniversary of the March 1st Movement in 1930 and was imprisoned at Seodaemun Prison. After his release, he played a role in treating independence activists and supplying military goods and funds to the anti-Japanese allied forces. He also served as the Hamgyeong Province chief committee member in the political operations led by Shin Ik-hee. His related achievements were confirmed as factual through matching contents of CIA reports and handwritten records from the Vietnam memoirs.

Shin Gwang-yeol’s award was given alongside other independence merit awards on August 15, Liberation Day. Dr. Shin Jun-sik, founder of Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital, said, "Discovering and re-examining forgotten independence activists is a process of confirming the foundation that made the Republic of Korea possible. In particular, Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital will continue to grow as a national hospital that inherits and develops the spirit of Korean medicine doctors who preserved Korean medicine during the Japanese colonial oppression."

Dr. Shin Jun-sik (left), founder of Jaseng Oriental Medicine Hospital, and Shin Min-sik, chairman of social contribution at Jaseng Medical Foundation, brothers, are honoring their father in front of the bust of independence activist Shin Gwang-yeol.

Jaseng Korean Medicine Hospital and Jaseng Medical Foundation are carrying out various social contribution activities to foster a social atmosphere that honors national merit recipients and their descendants. Representative projects include Korean medicine medical service support for independence merit recipients and their descendants, as well as Korean War veterans, the "Korean Medicine Primary Care Physician for Living Patriots" project that provides medical services by visiting surviving patriots directly, and housing support for descendants of independence merit recipients who have returned to Korea after living abroad.