Patriot comes home after 120 years

[Anchor]

In just two days, it will be the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day.

Ahead of this, the remains of patriot Mun Yang-mok, who dedicated his life to the independence movement after seeking asylum in the United States, have returned to the country.

His last wish to be buried in his liberated homeland has been fulfilled after 120 years.

This is Jeong Jae-hoon's report.

[Report]

The remains of patriot Mun Yang-mok, carefully wrapped in the Taegeukgi, arrive in front of his hometown house in Taean, Chungcheongnam-do.

The country he left in 1905, when the Eulsa Treaty was signed, warmly welcomed him upon his return 120 years later.

[Kiss Mun/Grandson of Mun Yang-mok: "It took more than a century for his return. We came to honor him, who sacrificed everything for the independence of our country and dedicated his life to it."]

Patriot Mun Yang-mok, who participated in the Donghak Peasant Movement, sought asylum in the United States in 1905 and formed the 'Daedong Patriotic Association.'

He dedicated his life to the independence movement, taking the lead in saving independence activists Jang In-hwan and Jeon Myeong-woon, who had shot the pro-Japanese figure Stevens, a diplomatic advisor to the Korean Empire.

However, he passed away in the United States in 1940, five years before liberation.

His last wish to be buried in his liberated homeland took a long and arduous path to realization.

The efforts to repatriate his remains, which began in earnest in 2022 with the Korean community in San Francisco, even required lawsuits against local governments in the United States.

[Choi Hong-il/Lawyer in Sacramento, USA: "(It took a long time to persuade the U.S. courts by applying precedents according to the materials.)"]

Ahead of the 80th anniversary of Liberation Day, the remains of six independence activists, including Mun, have returned to their homeland.

[Kim Min-seok/Prime Minister: "We will not stop the repatriation of remains until the last person steps on the soil of their homeland."]

The six independence activists embraced by their homeland have found eternal rest at the National Daejeon Cemetery.

This is KBS News Jeong Jae-hoon.