Booyoung chairman publishes history book on Japanese colonial rule

Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joong-keun speaks during a press conference at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, downtown Seoul, Thursday. He published his third history book, detailing what happened on the Korean Peninsula during the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial occupation. / Courtesy of Booyoung Group

By Lee Hyo-sik

Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joong-keun has published his third history book, detailing what happened on the Korean Peninsula during the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial occupation.

Marking the publication of the book, titled “Before Dawn, 36 Years, 12,768 Days,” Lee held a press conference in downtown Seoul, Thursday.

The chairman said he decided to publish the book to help inform young people of exactly what happened during the most turbulent period of modern Korea and help them form an accurate historical understanding of the era.

The book chronicles crucial historical events during the 36-year Japanese colonial rule, including Japan’s annexation of Korea on Aug. 29, 1910 and National Liberation Day on Aug. 15, 1945.

“I decided to publish the book to enable the younger generation to correctly understand the history of modern Korea,” Lee said. “My book will help those who do not know much about what happened during the Japanese colonial rule. I would like to let people know about their heritage and what their forefathers experienced.”

In December, Lee also published his second history book, detailing what happened on the Korean Peninsula from Aug. 15, 1945, through June 24, 1950, a day before the Korean War broke out.

The book, titled “Liberation 1,775 Days,” chronicles the National Liberation Day, Japan’s surrender, the establishment of a U.S. military government, the first general election in Korea and other crucial historical events during the five-year period.

In 2013, the chairman published his first history book, “The Korean War 1,129 Days.”

In May, he donated 1 million copies to the Korea Saemaul Undong Center, which promotes the “Saemaul Movement,” an agricultural and rural reform campaign that began in the early 1970s.

The center has been using the book as a history text for its 2 million members.