北愚 桂奉瑀의 생애와 활동에 대한 再考

Abstract

Gye Bong-U started to attract attention as human exchanges between South Korea and the former Soviet Union became active in the 1990s with data excavation and research conducted on Koreans that migrated to Central Asia. He was an Independence Movement activist, journalist, historian, and national educator that went back and forth between China and Russia.
 Born in a poor family in Yeongheung, Hamgyeongnam Province in 1880, he grew up as the only son in the family. Despite his remarkable academic competence, he had a period of roaming wandering around the nation, trying to pioneer his unfortunate fate and reality. He devoted himself to the national movement after realizing the reality of his motherland after the Protectorate Treaty between Korea and Japan concluded in 1905. His activities for 40 years until the Liberation of Korea demonstrated the multiplicity of the Independence Movement. His researches on national education and Korean studies in Kazakhstan sustained the identity of Koreans that were forced to migrate and had huge impacts on the foundation of Korean studies in the former Soviet Union regions.
 Although he wanted to return to his hometown after the Liberation of Korea, he failed to get permission from the Soviet government. He died and was buried in a cemetery in Kzyl-Orda, Kazakhstan in 1959. On April 22, 2019 that was 60 years from his death, his body was transported on a presidential plane, arrived at the Seoul airport, and was enshrined in Chunghondang of Seoul National Cemetery.