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Lee Hoe-yeong

Lee Hoe-yeong, or Lee Hoe-Young (Hangul: 이회영; hanja: 李會榮), also known by Pen name as Woodang (Hangul: 우당; hanja: 友堂), (March 17, 1867-November 17, 1932) was a Korean independence activist, anarchist and also one of the founders of Shinheung Military Academy in Manchuria. He is the elder brother of Yi Si-yeong, future Vice President of the Republic of Korea.Born in a renowned Nobility family, where his ancestors used to be appointed as senior Government Officials during the Joseon Dynasty, he and his brothers (with the exception of his eldest brother)have decided to flee Korea, rather than becoming the oppressed. His siblings are: Lee Gun-yeong (이건영,李健榮) (1853–1940)-Eldest brother Lee Seok-yeong (이석영,李石榮) (1855–1934)-2nd brother, deceased by starvation in Shanghai,China Lee Cheol-yeong (이철영,李哲榮) (1863–1925)-3rd brother Lee Si-yeong (이시영,李始榮) (1868–1953)-5th brother Lee Ho-yeong (이호영,李護榮) (?-1933)-6th and youngest brother.He and his entire family went missing in 1933, and never to be heard again.When he arrived in China,he stayed at Manchuria, before moving to Beijing and later Shanghai.He was arrested upon arrival from Shanghai at Dalian,and later imprisoned in the infamous Lushun Prison,and later died on November 17, 1932. However,his cause of death was a mystery, and the Japanese authority claims that he had hanged himself on the window bars of a Police Station, using a hemp cloth. However, the claim was refuted by the Koreans,as they claimed that he was killed by the Japanese. Upon his death,his remains was quickly cremated at the same day and his ashes was later brought back to Japan-ruled Korea,and later re-interred at Seoul National Cemetery, years after the Korean independence. He was posthumously awarded with the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1962. And in 2000,the Chinese Government proclaimed him as a "Patriotic martyr of the anti-imperialism/anti-Japanese revolution" for his struggle against the Japanese Imperialism in China. In 2010,a 5-part drama series was aired by KBS in commemorate of his struggle,titled Freedom Fighter, Lee Hoe Young(자유인 이회영) and was aired on August 29, 2010,the date of the centenary of the Forced Annexation of Korea by Japan.