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Kwon Young-Min, Ed. Moon-hak-sa-sang-sa, Inc. Seoul, Korea 1995
Yoon Dong-Ju was born in Manchuria on Dec 30, 1917, and died in a Japanese prison in Fukuoka, Japan, on
Feb. 16, 1945, just six months before Korea regained its independence from Japan. The locations of his
birth and death represent the dislocations of Korean life during the Japanese occupation of Korea
between 1910 and 1945. His short-life span of 27 years was marked by his moves: within Manchuria, up
and down the Korean peninsula, and over to Japan, where he was arrested and imprisoned on suspicion of
engaging in so-called subversive activities. He was convicted of working for the independence movement
of Korea and was serving a two-year prison term when he died. The circumstances of his death suggest it
derived from the chemical experimentation that is known to have been conducted on prisoners. His cousin
and close friend, Song Mong-Kyu, who was a fellow inmate, also died in prison within a month following
Yoon's death. (1)
