Song Hye-kyo, professor spotlight independence activist Park Ja-hye on Liberation Day

Independence activist Park Ja-hye. [Provided by Prof. Seo Kyoung-duk]

On Liberation Day, Sungshin Women's University professor Seo Kyoung-duk and actor Song Hye-kyo joined forces to spotlight independence activist Park Ja-hye.

Seo released a four-minute video Saturday on social media — one he produced and Song sponsored — featuring narration in both Korean and English so viewers at home and abroad could follow along easily.

The video chronicles the little-known sacrifices of Park. Entering the royal palace as a child and serving as one of the last court ladies of the Joseon Dynasty, Park left the palace in 1910, pursued a modern education, obtained a midwifery license and emerged as an independent-minded new woman of her era.

In 1919, while working as a nurse at the Government-General of Korea hospital, she treated those wounded during the March 1st Movement and awakened to the reality facing her people. She then founded Ganuhoe, a nurses' independence movement organization, and threw herself fully into the struggle.

After fleeing to China, Park married independence scholar Sin Chae-ho and walked a path of hardship as both his wife and comrade. Back in Korea, she worked behind the scenes to support independence fighter Na Seok-ju's bombing of the Oriental Development Company, sustaining her drive for liberation.

The hardships she endured were severe. Relentless surveillance by Japanese colonial authorities forced her to close the midwifery clinic she ran, and she struggled to afford even a single meal. Through the successive tragedies of her husband's death in prison and the loss of her child, Park held fast to her longing for independence — yet ultimately died alone in a single room.

Professor Seo Kyoung-duk and actor Song Hye-kyo. [Provided by Prof. Seo Kyoung-duk]

Seo has been producing multilingual videos to introduce the lives of female independence activists who remain little known to the public, including Jeong Jeong-hwa, Yun Hui-sun, Kim Maria, Park Cha-jeong, Kim Hyang-hwa and Nam Ja-hyeon. "I plan to consistently produce a series of multilingual videos on more female independence activists and share them with audiences both in Korea and abroad," he said.

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