Utility of Daily Routine

Those Who Defended the Nation Long Ago

History is filled with the footsteps of those who devoted themselves to protecting their country. Their courage and sacrifice went beyond victories in times of crisis. They became the very foundation that strengthened the identity of the nation and its people. Let us now turn to their stories.

📝Text by. Su-bin Cho

The Journey to Preserve Our Language

We can so easily learn and enjoy the Korean language today thanks to the sacrifices of unsung heroes who struggled to preserve our language during the Japanese colonial era when Hangul faced the threat of extinction.

In 1911 under the Japanese colonial rule, a group of young scholars including Hee-seung Lee and Yoon-kyung Kim gathered under the leadership of Si-gyeong Ju to begin compiling Malmoe—a dictionary of the Korean language—with the goal of preserving and developing the Korean script and speech. After four years, however, the project came to a halt with the death of Si-gyeong Ju. Fortunately, the Korean Language Society (Joseoneohakhoe) took up his legacy. Over the next 13 years, they gathered words used in newspapers, magazines, novels, and history books and explained their meanings, as well as standardized forms and spellings of each word to complete the dictionary compilation.

But the crisis did not end there. In 1937, Japan's assimilation policies aimed at obliterating the ethnic identity of the Korean people also struck the Korean Language Society. In October 1942, 33 members including dictionary editor Tae-jin Jeong were arrested on charges of conducting a “cultural independence movement.” They endured more than three years of imprisonment and hardship.

The society was eventually disbanded, and parts of the dictionary manuscripts were lost. After Korea’s liberation in 1945, however, some of the confiscated manuscripts were discovered in a storage warehouse at Gyeongseong Station (now Seoul Station). Finally, on October 9, 1947, the first volume of the Grand Korean Dictionary (Joseonmal Keunsajeon) was published.

A Village Built to Preserve Residential Culture

In 1920, the Japanese colinial rule abolished the Company Law in Korea. This allowed an influx of Japanese capital into the country, placing Korean national capital under immense threat. At the time, many Japanese residents lived in the southern parts of Seoul such as Myeong-dong and Yongsan. As their commercial activities expanded toward Jongno, their residential expansion also began encroaching upon Bukchon. Moreover, the population of Gyeongseong (now Seoul) was increasing exponentially in the 1920s, creating an urgent need for small-scale houses.
In response to these threats, independence activist Se-gwon Jeong launched a real estate initiative. He envisioned a modern adaptation of the hanok—the traditional Korean house—by transforming its structure into smaller, more practical homes while retaining core traditional elements.

High-ranking officials who were living in Bukchon sold their properties and Jeong purchased them. Within the traditional "ㅁ"-shaped hanok layout, he built small, modernized versions of hanoks. He offered them at low prices to Korean buyers, even introducing installment plans in addition to lump-sum payments; thus easing the financial burden of home ownership.

Jeong was actively involved not only in real estate business but also in the Korean Products Promotion Movement, which encouraged the use of domestic goods. He also provided tangible support for the Korean Language Society—the group that worked under Japanese oppression to compile a Korean dictionary—by building and donating a two-story Western-style building where the society could work in safety.

This way, Jeong’s housing project offered a sense of comfort and pride and helped Koreans adhere to their way of life even under the oppressive colonial rule despite being deprived of national sovereignty.

The Police Officer Who Protected Korea’s Cultural Heritage

War not only claims lives but also devastates the cultural and historical treasures of a region. The Korean War was no exception, leaving deep scars on many of Korea’s cultural assets. In particular, precious Buddhist heritage sites passed down through centuries were damaged or destroyed. Even amid the chaos of war, however, there was one man who valued Korea’s cultural heritage more than his own life and stood firm to protect a thousand-year-old temple. He was Chief Inspector Il-hyuk Cha.

In May 1951, during the Korean War, Battalion Commander Deuk-yoon Bang of the 8th Division received orders from his superiors to burn down temples and hermitages that could potentially serve as hideouts for North Korean partisans. At the time, Chief Inspector Cha, who was stationed with the battalion in the Hwaeomsa Temple area near Jirisan Mountain together with Bang, strongly opposed the idea of destroying the ancient temple. Torn between military orders and cultural preservation, Cha faced a dilemma: he could not disobey his superiors, but neither could he bring himself to destroy a temple with over a thousand years' history. After thinking long and hard, he came up with a solution: he ordered his men to remove the temple doors and burn only those.

Cha Il-hyuk later said, “It takes only half a day to burn down a temple, but not even a thousand years are enough to rebuild one.” Thanks to his courage and wisdom, we can still appreciate the beauty of Hwaeomsa Temple in its original form today.

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