By Jeongnam Kim
(Former Senior Presidential Secretary for Education·Culture·Society, World Korean News advisor)
Heungsa-dan is the only organization in our country which has a history of 100 years. Known as Young Korean Academy, this organization observed the centennial of its foundation on May 13, 2013. This academy was organized by Ahn Chang-ho (1878-1938) in San Francisco, U.S., with a view to achieving the independence and prosperity of Korea from the yoke of the Japanese colonial rule. Its organization was initiated with the participation of Yuseok Jo Byeong-ok, representatives of the eight provinces and 25 members.
Ahn, who came to the United States first in 1902 under the pretext of a study abroad, set up a public hall for the Korean immigrants in the U.S. and provided them with accommodations and also found jobs for them. He went on further to help Korean immigrants with all his heart, establishing the first Korea town it he city of Riverside in the vicinity of Los Angeles. He was a role model of our Korea nation in the Korean community in the U.S. at the time,
This Academy was rooted in the Gongrip Hyeophoe (Public Association, 1905), and a clandestine death squad called Sinmin-hoe (New People's Organization, 1907) and its youth movement organization called "Young Students Fraternity; Dosan Ahn Chang-ho created Heungsa-dan on May 13, 1913 with all these organizations liquidated to form a better, united entity.
Ahn Chang-ho advocated four principles for members of the Academy to follow: Integrity, Action, Loyalty, and Courage. Integrity means the spirit of loving truth, not falsehood, and respecting the practicality. and Actions means an attitude of keeping one's hard work toward achieving the ultimate goal. Loyally here is emphasized for the members to do their best in their duties and exert their utmost efforts to keep promise, and the principle of Courage was advocated for the members to seek the truth progressively and positively. In addition, the Academy gives emphasis on the motto on "Love yourself, and Love others," urging its followers to love oneself and love other people as much as one loves himself.
Ahn had hoped for our country to be 'a powerful first-class nation,' and toward this objective, he worked hard to achieve our national independence and a developed country as well by educating the youngsters to be a sound national elite group.
After the nation's liberation, the Academy has devoted itself to the promotion of civic activities, such as the unification and social justice enhancement movements, instead of taking part directly in the national democratization movements and other political activities. One of the representative social education programs of this Academy is "Pioneer Lectures on Friday," one of the longest-standing civic lectures going on until now.
It is assumed that Heungsa-dan is able to maintain its existence until now for so long a period of time in spite of the fact it was inaugurated in the period of the Japanese colonial rule and had gone through the tough times after the liberation, the periods of Syngman Rhee's despotism, and the military dictatorship spanning over 30 years, because perhaps it has kept its position as a non-political entity. But it should not just remain as a national organization. I think it is a prime subject of this Academy to overcome the concept of a nation and be reborn as an international organization, educating youngsters to become citizens of the world and contribute to the advancement of the human civilization and the peace of the world.
