Kwon Ki-ok

Kwon Ki-ok (11 January 1901 – 19 April 1988), or Quan Jiyu in Chinese, was the first Korean female aviator, as well as one of the first female pilots in China.[1] She went in exile in China during the Japanese occupation of Korea, and became a lieutenant colonel in the Republic of China Air Force. She returned home after the independence of Korea and became a founder of the Republic of Korea Air Force.

In this Korean name, the family name is Kwon.
Kwon Ki-ok
Kwon in China, 1935
Korean name
Hangul
권기옥
Hanja
權基玉
Revised RomanizationGwon Gi-ok
McCune–ReischauerKwŏn Ki-ok

Biography

Kwon was born in Pyongyang's Sangsugu Village[fn 1] to Gwon Don-gak[fn 2] and Jang Mun-myeong,[fn 3] the second of five children(4 daughters and 1 son).[2] She attended Pyongyang's Sunghyeon School,[fn 4] from which she graduated in 1918; she was inspired to learn to fly after seeing a 1917 aerobatics demonstration by American stunt pilot Art Smith.[3][4]

The following year, she participated in the March 1st Movement, for which she spent three weeks in jail; after her release, she assisted with fundraising activities for the Korean Patriotic Women's Association,[fn 5] as a result of which she was arrested and imprisoned for six months. Upon her release, she went into exile in China. In China, she enrolled in the Hongdao Women's School[fn 6] in Hangzhou, operated by American missionary Ellen Peterson, in order to learn Chinese and English. She completed a four-year course of study in just two years.[5]

In 1923, at the recommendation of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai, she entered the Republic of China Air Force School in Yunnan, graduating in 1925.[6] She was the only woman in the first graduating class. After graduation, she was stationed in Beijing, and then relocated to Nanjing in 1927. By 1940, she had achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel.[7]

In 1945, with the end of World War II and the restoration of Korean independence, Kwon returned to Korea, where she was instrumental in the founding of the Republic of Korea Air Force.[7] During the Korean War, she served as a member of South Korea's Ministry of National Defense.[3] Following the war, she retired to private life, serving as the vice-president of the Korea-China Cultural Association from 1966 until 1975. She received various recognitions for her service to the country, including a 1968 presidential commendation and the 1977 Order of Merit for National Foundation. She died on 19 April 1988 and was buried in the National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul.[4]

Later views

In August 2003, Kwon was selected as "Independence Activist of the Month" by the Ministry of Patriots' and Veterans' Affairs. At the time of the release of the 2005 South Korean film Blue Swallow, Park Kyung-won was believed to have been Korea's first female aviator; as knowledge that Kwon actually preceded her became more widespread, the distributor was forced to change their marketing campaign.[8]

See also

Footnotes
  1. Korean: 상수구리; Hanja: 上水口里
  2. Korean: 권돈각; Hanja: 權敦珏
  3. Korean: 장문명; Hanja: 張文明
  4. Korean: 숭현보통학교
  5. Korean: 대한애국부인회; Hanja: 大韓愛國婦人會; RR: Daehan Aeguk Buinhoe
  6. Chinese: 弘道女中; Pinyin: Hóngdào Nǚ Zhòng; Hangul: 홍도여중

References
  1. "谁是"中国第一女飞行家"?秋瑾之女还是李霞卿". China.com.cn. 9 August 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  2. "8월의 독립운동가로 權基玉 여사 선정 (Kwon Ki-ok chosen as August independence activist)" (PDF), Andong Kwon Newspaper, 1 September 2003, archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2007, retrieved 2 May 2007
  3. "우리나라 최초의 여류비행사, 권기옥을 말한다 (Discussing Kwon Ki-ok, our country's first female aviator)", AF Tongsin, Republic of Korea Air Force, archived from the original on 29 September 2007, retrieved 21 May 2007
  4. "독립운동의 날개꽃 권기옥 (Kwon Ki-ok, blossoming flower of the independence movement)", OhmyNews, 29 December 2005, retrieved 22 May 2007
  5. Jeong, Chun-ok (9 April 2007), "한국 첫 여성 비행사 권기옥 (Korea's first female aviator, Kwon Ki-ok)", Sisa News, archived from the original on 28 September 2007, retrieved 21 May 2005
  6. "映画『青燕』、韓国初の女性飛行士めぐり論争 (Movie 'Blue Swallow' and the debate about Korea's first female aviator)", Chosun Online, 16 October 2005, archived from the original on 30 September 2007, retrieved 22 May 2007
  7. Yang, Lirui (9 March 2006), ""韩国空军祖母"是我师姐 ("Korea's Grandmother of Aviation" was my senior)", New Kunming, archived from the original on 13 May 2008, retrieved 21 May 2007
  8. Kim, Tae-jong (22 February 2006), "'Blue Swallow' faces turbulence", Korea Times

Further reading
  • Im, Bok-nam, 우리나라 최초 여성 파일럿, 권기옥 (Our country's first female pilot, Kwon Ki-ok), Small Seed, ISBN 89-90787-51-3
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