Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light, though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning they, do not go gentle into that good night.
Independence fighter Kim Byung-gil passed away at 96
The late independence fighter Kim Byung-gil / Yonhap
By Jhoo Dong-chan
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Kim Byung-gil, an independence fighter during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial era, died of a stroke Thursday. According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Busan Office, Friday, Kim passed away from stroke at the Busan Veterans Hospital in Busan, Thursday. He was 96.
He had a previous stroke in March last year, and had been receiving treatment at the hospital over the past year.
Born in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Kim was forcibly drafted to the Imperial Japanese Navy when he was 19. He then decided to become an independence fighter and formed IlShimhoe, a resistance group, with his 11 comrades.
The group planned to assist alled forces' possible landing operation to take out the Japanese military presence in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province, but the plan was later discovered by the Japanese.
Kim was immediately arrested by the Japanese forces, and sentenced to a year and half in prison by the Japanese military court on July 12, 1944, after four months of torture.
Kim remained in jail until Korea became independent in 1945.
Honoring his efforts to help the country's independence, the government awarded Kim with the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1990.
He is survived by one son and five daughters. His wife passed away in 2017.
Kim was buried at the Daejeon National Cemetery on Saturday.