Im Byeong-chan Righteous Army Uprising Site

About this place

Im Byeong-chan Changui Yujeokji is the site where Dunheon Im Byeong-chan (1851–1916) gathered and trained righteous army soldiers in order to save the country from Japanese aggression in the late Joseon period. Master Im Byeong-chan, in the year following the illegal Eulsa Treaty of 1905, led a righteous army uprising at Museongsewon Confucian Academy together with Master Myeonam Choe Ik-hyeon in 1906. After fighting Japanese forces in the Battle of Sunchang, he was captured along with Choe Ik-hyeon and exiled to Tsushima Island. In 1914, he expanded the Independence Military Government (Dongnip Uigunbu) into a national organization, reorganizing it as the Great Korean Independence Military Government (Daehan Dongnip Uigunbu). While conducting righteous army activities, he was arrested and lived out his exile on Geomundo Island, where he died of illness. This area, at an elevation of over 400 meters above sea level in a remote mountain valley, was where Im Byeong-chan established the Yeongsojeon lecture hall honoring Confucius in preparation for Japanese annexation, to educate his disciples. He also established weapon storage facilities, ammunition manufacturing facilities, and quarters, and trained soldiers in archery and horseback riding. Today only traces of the buildings from that era remain, and in recent years descendants have erected a commemorative stele, while Jeongeup City has installed information boards and marker stones.