Patriot Appearing as 'Eugene Choi' in the Drama 'Mr. Sunshine'
Hwang Gi-hwan, a patriotic activist depicted as 'Eugene Choi' played by actor Lee Byung-hun in the drama 'Mr. Sunshine,' is returning to his homeland after 100 years.
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs recently announced on the 1st that it has reached an agreement for the exhumation of Hwang Gi-hwan's remains at Mount Olivet Cemetery in New York, USA.
The government has finally achieved results after 10 years of efforts to repatriate the remains. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs began pursuing the repatriation in 2013, but faced difficulties as the cemetery insisted that a court decision was necessary for exhumation without the consent of the bereaved family. From 2019 to 2022, lawsuits for repatriation were filed in local courts, but approval was not granted due to the lack of public records confirming that Hwang had no surviving relatives.
In collaboration with the Consulate General in New York, the Ministry persuaded the cemetery to respond to the wishes of Koreans by repatriating the remains this year, marking the 100th anniversary of his martyrdom. Hwang will rest in his homeland after 100 years. Once repatriated, a government-led repatriation ceremony will be held, and he will be interred at the National Daejeon National Cemetery.
Hwang Gi-hwan volunteered for the U.S. military while studying in America and participated in World War I. In June 1919, he moved to France and assisted Kim Kyu-sik, who came to Paris to attend the Versailles Peace Conference, supporting the delegation's affairs. He was appointed secretary-general of the Paris branch of the Provisional Government and engaged in independence promotion activities.
In October of the same year, to prevent over 200 workers in Murmansk, Russia, from being forcibly repatriated by Japan, he made desperate diplomatic efforts with the British and French governments, dramatically rescuing 35 people including Hong Jae-ha and relocating them to France. In January of the following year, as the head of the Korean Propaganda Corps stationed in Paris, he launched a French-language magazine and held lectures to raise awareness of Japanese oppression, appealing for Korean independence to the international community.
In April 1921, he was appointed as the London commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. He edited a book titled 'The Anglo-Japanese Alliance and Korea,' criticizing Korea's fall into Japanese colonial rule as a result of imperialist powers' colonial partition policies. As part of the Provisional Government's communications department, he organized the Korean Friendship Association to support diplomatic efforts and was active as a diplomatic commissioner in London and in the Western Committee.
Hwang passed away from heart disease on April 17, 1923, in New York and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in New York. His grave was discovered and publicized in 2008 by Pastor Jang Cheol-woo of the New York Korean Church, 85 years after his death. His life story was adapted into the character Eugene Choi, played by Lee Byung-hun, in the 2018 tvN drama 'Mr. Sunshine.'
To honor his contributions, the government posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Patriotic Medal, in 1995.
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