Kwon Ki-ok

Infobox Korean name
hangul=권기옥
hanja=權基玉
mr=Kwŏn Ki-ok
rr=Gwon Gi-ok

Kwon Ki-ok (born Pyongyang, Korea, 11 January, 1901; died 19 April, 1988) was the first Korean female aviator, as well as being the first female pilot in China. [citation|title=大沙头机场:宋庆龄试机 孙中山题词|periodical=Nanfang Daily|date=2004-06-02|accessdate=2007-05-02|url=http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/southnews/zt/rdzt/040518gz/200406020024.asp]

Biography

Kwon was born in Pyongyang's Sangsugu Village [Ko-hhrm|hangul=상수구리|hanja=上水口里] to Gwon Don-gak [Ko-hhrm|hangul=권돈각|hanja=權敦珏] and Jang Mun-myeong; [Ko-hhrm|hangul=장문명|hanja=張文明] she was their second daughter.citation|url=http://andongkwon.or.kr/newspaper_2/image/57/5705.pdf|periodical=Andong Kwon Newspaper|date=2003-09-01|accessdate=2007-05-02|title=8월의 독립운동가로 權基玉 여사 선정 (Kwon Ki-ok chosen as August independence activist)] She attended Pyongyang's Sunghyeon School, [Ko-hhrm|hangul=숭현보통학교] from which she graduated in 1918; she was inspired to learn to fly after seeing a 1917 aerobatics demonstration by American stunt pilot Art Smith.citation|url=http://www.airforce.mil.kr:7778/news/afnews/afnews_3_1177.jsp|publisher=Republic of Korea Air Force|periodical=AF Tongsin|title=우리나라 최초의 여류비행사, 권기옥을 말한다 (Discussing Kwon Ki-ok, our country's first female aviator)|accessdate=2007-05-21] citation|url=http://www.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?at_code=301350|title=독립운동의 날개꽃 권기옥 (Kwon Ki-ok, blossoming flower of the independence movement)|periodical=OhmyNews|date=2005-12-29|accessdate=2007-05-22] The following year, she participated in the March 1st Movement, for which she spent three weeks in jail; after her release, she assisted with fundraising activities for the Korean Patriotic Women's Association, [Ko-hhrm|hangul=대한애국부인회|hanja=大韓愛國婦人會|rr=Daehan Aeguk Buinhoe] as a result of which she was arrested and imprisoned for six months. Upon her release, she went into exile in China. Once in China, she enrolled in the Hongdao Women's School [Chinese: 弘道女子學校; Pinyin: unicode|Hóngdào Nǚzi Xuéxiào; Hangul: 홍도여자학교] in Nanjing, operated by American missionary Ellen Peterson, in order to learn Chinese and English. She completed a four-year course of study in just two years.citation|date=2006-03-09|accessdate=2007-05-21|title=“韩国空军祖母”是我师姐 ("Korea's Grandmother of Aviation" was my senior)|periodical=New Kunming|url=http://www.newkm.cn/5350/2006/03/09/[e-mail]|last=Yang|first=Lirui]

In 1945, with the end of World War II and the restoration of Korean independence, Kwon repatriated to Korea, where she was instrumental in the founding of the Republic of Korea Air Force. During the Korean War, she served as a member of South Korea's Ministry of National Defense. Following the war, she retired to private life, serving as the vice-president of the Korea-China Cultural Association from 1966 until 1975. She received various recognitions for her service to the country, including a 1968 presidential commendation and the 1977 Order of Merit for National Foundation. She died on 19 April, 1988 and was buried in the National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul.

Later views

In August 2003, Kwon was selected as "Independence Activist of the Month" by the Ministry of Patriots' and Veterans' Affairs. At the time of the release of the 2005 South Korean film "Blue Swallow", Park Kyung-won was believed to have been Korea's first female aviator; as knowledge that Kwon actually preceded her became more widespread, the distributor was forced to change their marketing campaign. [citation|periodical=Korea Times|last=Kim|first=Tae-jong|url=http://www.koreapop.com/webzine.pfm?mode=review&num=193&code=review|title='Blue Swallow' faces turbulence|date=2006-02-22|accessdate=2007-05-20]

References

Further reading

*citation|isbn=8990787513|title=우리나라 최초 여성 파일럿, 권기옥 (Our country's first female pilot, Kwon Ki-ok)|last=Im|first=Bok-nam|date=2007-03-20
국방위|publisher=Small Seed