Oh Hee-ok
{{Short description|Korean independence activist (1926–2024)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Oh Hee-ok
| image = Oh Hee-ok.jpeg
| native_name = 오희옥
| native_name_lang = ko
| birth_date = {{Birth year|1926}}
| birth_place = Emu Town, Jilin, Republic of China
| death_date = {{Death date and given age|2024|11|17|98}}
| death_place = Seoul, South Korea
| resting_place = Seoul National Cemetery
| awards = Order of Merit for National Foundation (1990)
}}
Oh Hee-ok ({{Korean|hangul=오희옥}}; 1926 – November 17, 2024) was a Korean independence activist, and the last surviving female independence activist recognized by the South Korean government.{{Cite news |last=최 |first=원정 |last2=이 |first2=영섭 |date=November 20, 2024 |script-title=ko:동지 곁에 잠든 마지막 여성광복군…오희옥 지사 빗속 영결식(종합) |url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20241120024051004 |access-date=November 20, 2024 |work=Yonhap News Agency |language=ko}} A member of the Korean Liberation Army and the Korea Independence Party, she resisted the Japanese occupation of Korea while in exile in China.{{Cite web |date=November 20, 2024 |title=Last surviving female member of the Korean Liberation Army interned at Seoul National Cemetery |url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-11-20/national/socialAffairs/Last-surviving-female-member-of-the-Korean-Liberation-Army-interned-at-Seoul-National-Cemetery/2182423 |access-date=November 20, 2024 |website=Korea JoongAng Daily |language=en}}
Biography
Born in Emu Town, Jilin, Republic of China (now in Jiaohe, Jilin, China){{Cite web |date=2024-11-19 |title=[마지막 애국가] 여성광복군 오희옥 '백년의 독립투혼'이 지다 |url=https://www.theviews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=1459 |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=더뷰스 |language=ko}} in 1926 whilst her family was in exile in Manchuria,{{Cite web |date=August 13, 2017 |title="'독립투사 삶 인정해달라' 하면 '돈 때문에 저런다'고…" |url=https://www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/201708132068701851 |access-date=November 20, 2024 |website=Hankook Ilbo |language=ko}} she was the daughter of independence activists {{Ill|O Kwangsŏn|ko|오광선}} and Chŏng Hyŏnsuk ({{Korean|hangul=정현숙|labels=no}}). Her grandfather, O Insu ({{Korean|hangul=오인수|labels=no}}), was also an independence activist. Oh joined the {{Ill|Korean Liberation Front Youths Mission Corps|ko|한국청년전지공작대}} ({{Korean|hangul=한국광복진선청년공작대|labels=no}}) in April 1939. She performed some espionage work for them. In January 1941, her group was merged into the Korean Liberation Army. Upon the 1945 liberation of Korea, she was in Chongqing, along with the rest of the Korean Provisional Government.
After the 1950–1953 Korean War, she worked for 38 years as a primary school teacher.{{Cite web |last=Moon |first=Ki-hoon |date=November 18, 2024 |title=Oh Hee-ok, last female Korean independence fighter, dies at 98 |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20241118050103 |access-date=November 22, 2024 |website=The Korea Herald |language=en}} She had one son and two daughters.
In 1990, Oh was awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation from the South Korean government. In 2017, she sang the national anthem at a National Liberation Day of Korea ceremony, which was attended by president Moon Jae-in. In 2021, she became the last surviving female Korean independence activist, after the death of Min Yeong-ju ({{Korean|hangul=민영주|labels=no}}).{{Cite web |last=이 |first=유정 |last2=이 |first2=근평 |date=November 17, 2024 |title=[단독] '3대가 독립운동' 오희옥 지사 영면…국내 생존자 4명으로 |url=https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25292643 |access-date=December 20, 2024 |website=중앙일보 |language=ko}}
She died on November 17, 2024, at around 3:08 p.m.,{{Cite web |date=November 17, 2024 |script-title=ko:'마지막 여성 광복군' 오희옥 애국지사 별세… 향년 98세 |url=https://www.chosun.com/politics/politics_general/2024/11/17/YRUGZDWWRFGW7CDU3SQEYE6S5E/ |access-date=November 22, 2024 |website=The Chosun Ilbo |language=ko}} at Seoul Veterans Health Service Medical Center ({{Korean|hangul=서울중앙보훈병원|labels=no}}). Coincidentally, she died on {{Ill|Patriotic Martyr's Day|ko|순국선열의 날}}, which commemorates Korean independence activists. A memorial ceremony was held for her at Seoul National Cemetery on November 20. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs lowered their flags to half mast around the country in her honor. Her remains were interred at that cemetery thereafter.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|id=HShwcegHud0|title=열네 살의 여성 독립군 오희옥}} – A documentary about Oh by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh, Hee-ok}}
Category:20th-century South Korean educators
Category:20th-century South Korean women
Category:21st-century South Korean women
Category:Activists for Korean independence
Category:Korean expatriates in China
Category:Korean Liberation Army personnel
Category:Korean women independence activists
Category:People from Jilin City
Category:Burials at Seoul National Cemetery
Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit for National Foundation