By Andrei Lankov
In December 1922, a huge crowd gathered on the Yoido airfield which at the time was located near the present day National Assembly building. People came to see the demonstration flights of An Chang-man, the first Korean aviator who had graduated from an air school in Japan. This was not the first air show in Seoul’s history _ after all, the Yoido airfield was in regular use from 1916. However, the very idea of a Korean flying an airplane was exciting. To an extent, these flights began the aviation history of Seoul.
In December 1925, the Governor General’s office established the Korean Civil Aviation Research Institute. The institute was to conduct test flights and other research necessary for the development of air routes in Korea. However, the institute was run and staffed by Japanese.
In 1926, a Korea air enthusiast began to pursue a similar objective. Yi Ki-yon managed to get his hands on three outdated planes which were given away by the Japanese army for no charge. He hoped to use them for his civil aviation research center. However, this experiment did not last. In the 1920s, pilots’ survival chances were low, and in September 1927 Yi was killed in a crash. His death _ only too usual for an early aviation pioneer _ ended the first attempt at creating a Korean air company.
However, 1927 was also the year when another Korean air pioneer returned to his native country from overseas. His name was Shin Yong-uk, and his role in Korean air history was pivotal. With due respect to the other early Korean pilots, the period between 1927 and 1960 can be called the ``Shin Yong-uk era’’ of Korean aviation.
Shin was born in 1901. Like many youngsters of the era, he went to Japan to study, and soon became a student at the same Oguri air school which, around the same time, was attended by An Chang-man, the first Korean pilot. Shin graduated in 1922, one year later than An.
After few years of further studies in Japan, Shin came home with the idea of creating a Korean national air school. He understood that the colonial authorities were unlikely to embrace such a plan. Thus, Shin enlisted the support of a number of celebrities, including Pak Yong-hyo, a reform activist turned capitalist and one of the most influential Koreans in the colony. They formed a support committee which successfully lobbied for permission. Permission was finally obtained, and in late 1928 the Korean Air School became operational. It was located on the same Yoido Island, the then centre of the Korean air industry. The school purchased an American trainer, and work began.
All high school graduates were eligible to apply. The course lasted for 18 months and its cost was 800 won _ the annual salary of a middle-level official. However, Shin was ready to teach some gifted young pilots from poorer families free of charge.
The school earned some additional money by offering scenic flights on a specially purchased four-seater. A 20-minute return flight to Inchon would cost 20 won, the weekly wages of a well-paid white-collar worker.
In the mid-1930s Shin founded an air company which, from 1936, began operating a regular air service between Seoul and his native Kochang in Cholla Province. Later the service was extended to Kwangju. By that time, the Japanese air companies were already flying regular routes over Korea. From 1929, the Japanese planes landed at Seoul on their flights between Tokyo and Dalian in China. However, Shin’s company was largely managed by Koreans, and used Korean capital and Korean expertise.
The company operated a fleet which included a number of Japanese ex-military planes converted for civilian use. These planes were available for free or for a token price, since the army did not need them any more. The company also had a DC-3 purchased from the USA in 1939. This plane was the marvel of the air technology of its era, and Shin used it for occasional charter flights overseas, usually to Southern China.
In 1939, another experimental Korean air school and company was established, this one in Taegu. Its founder was another Japanese-educated pilot, Kim Yong-su. At the height of its operations, it had five light planes. However, it did not offer regular services, but limited its activity to training and occasional charter flights (often these were propaganda flights arranged by the colonial authorities).
However the real history of Korean aviation began after liberation. But that is another story (although with same characters).
Prof. Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul.
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