Person1918 – 1994

Mun Ik-hwan

Also called: Moon Ik-hwan

Pastor and democracy activist who joined the 1976 March First Democratic Declaration and visited North Korea in 1989 in the cause of reunification

Born in Myeongdong village in Bukgando, Manchuria, he grew up with the poet Yun Dong-ju. A pastor and Old Testament scholar, he worked on the Common Translation Bible produced jointly by Protestants and Catholics. Imprisoned over the March First Democratic Declaration of 1976, he was jailed several more times. In March 1989 he visited Pyongyang without government permission and met Kim Il Sung, and was arrested on his return.

Where they went

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1 related event

  1. 1

    When a campaign to amend the Yushin constitution arose, the government suppressed it with emergency decrees; in 1976 dissidents issued the March First Democratic Declaration at Myeongdong Cathedral.

People who appear alongside

  • Yun Po-sun1897 – 1990

    4th President (1960–1962), elected by the National Assembly under the parliamentary system after the April Revolution; resigned after the May 16 coup

  • Kim Dae-jung1924 – 2009

    15th President (1998–2003), the first transfer of power to the opposition by election. Steered recovery from the currency crisis and held the first inter-Korean summit; Nobel Peace Prize 2000

  • Park Chung-hee1917 – 1979

    5th–9th President (1963–1979). Led the May 16 coup, the five-year economic plans and the Yushin system; killed in the October 26 incident

  • Jang Jun-ha1918 – 1975

    Former Korean Liberation Army soldier who published the magazine Sasanggye and led the 1973 campaign for a million signatures petitioning for constitutional revision

  • Ham Seok-heon1901 – 1989

    Thinker and democracy activist who wrote Korean History from the Standpoint of Meaning, published the magazine The Voice of the Ssial and joined the 1976 March First Democratic Declaration