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Henry Chung DeYoung

Close-up photo of Henry Chung DeYoung.

Henry Chung (Korean: 정한경); 1890 – 1985) was a Korean independence activist and political scholar in the United States. He is also known as Jeong Han-kyung. In 1968, at the age of 78 years old, he became an American Citizen, known as Henry Chung DeYoung.

In 1962, Henry Chung was awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation Grade 3: Independence Medal by the government of the Republic of Korea for his dedication to the Korean Independence Movement.

Biography

Henry Chung was born in Suncheon, Pyeongan Province in 1890. At the age of 14, he moved to Kearny, Nebraska to continue his education in the United States. He continued his education at Nebraska State University where he retrieved his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. In the year 1918, Chung became an assistant professor at Northwestern University. Henry Chung did much for the Korean Independence Movement and spent time traveling the United States to educate other Koreans and Americans about the situation in Korea through various speeches and press conferences. Apart from events and organizations he was a part of during the Independence Movement, he gave several speeches and wrote many articles and books about the Korean Independence movement throughout his life. Henry Chung married an American woman, Joanna, and they had four kids, Edwin, Henry, David, and Francis. He passed away at the age of 95 in June of 1985.

Korean Independence Activist

First Korean Congress in Philadelphia in 1919, Henry Chung holding the Korean Flag behind Syngman Rhee.

Henry Chung helped organize the Korean National Association in San Francisco alongside Ahn Chang-ho and Syngman Rhee as part of the Korean independence movement in the United States. Chung was selected by the Association as a representative to accompany Syngman Rhee and Chan-ho Min to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, however he was unable to leave the country. In February of 1919, Chung was appointed vice-chairman of a temporary committee in charge of independence movement affairs and was part of the delegation to the League of Nations.

Following the 1919 March 1st Movement in Korea, Henry Chung continued his Independence efforts. In April 1919, Chung participated in the First Korean Congress held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia with others including Philip Jaisohn and Syngman Rhee. Henry Chung continued to work with Syngman Rhee for many years.

Henry Chung continued to be part of the Korean Independence movement in America, writing various articles to educate everyone on the continued movement and the wrongdoings of Japan. Though Chung participated in several of the big independence movement events, he largely worked independently throughout his life.

Relevant Writings

The Cosmopolitan

Henry Chung DeYoung arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii in the 1920s.

At the 1916 annual banquet of the Cosmopolitan Club at the University of Nebraska, Henry Chung gave his speech entitled “The Cosmopolitan”. Henry Chung was strongly influenced by the notion of cosmopolitanism and that was evident in several aspects of his life. Through his actions in the independence movement, his views reflected this cosmopolitan image calling for a movement including all Koreans universally, regardless of social status. This speech is a representation of his cosmopolitan view on society.

The Oriental Policy of the United States

Henry Chung’s 1918 master’s thesis book at the University of Nebraska, entitled The Oriental Policy of the United States, analyzed the United States’ foreign policy towards East Asia and criticized their response to Japanese colonialism. The book consisted of three parts, the first of which focused on the development in the policy. In the second part, Henry Chung explains Japan’s involvement of the policy. Chung then analyzes different documents directly relating to the situation of the policy.

The Case of Korea

In his 1921 Doctoral thesis book, entitled The Case of Korea, Henry Chung analyzed 5,000 pamphlets and 10,000 publications related to the March 1st Movement to introduce and educate the English-speaking world. In this book, Henry Chung educates the masses of English speakers on the history of Korea and the situation with Japan. By analyzing various resources, Chung organizes Korea’s history in hopes of shining a light and informing others about this widely unknown piece of history.

Quotes

The Cosmopolitan

“We have common interest and common density with the rest of the world. For we know civilization must rise or fall as a unit. There can be no true civilization while any men in the world are left out of it, and no race or nation can go far forward while other races and nations lag behind.”

The Case of Korea

“Whatever may happen in the political arena of the Far East, the Korean people, though disarmed and defenseless, will continue the struggle for life and liberty with undaunted courage and unswerving optimism which forms a peculiar trait of their national character; they will continue. To hope, till hope creates from its own wreck the thing it contemplates."

“The world is full of tragedy, and the conscience of mankind is already overburdened with the groans of suffering humanity. But the greatest of national tragedies today is little known to the civilized world.”