백초월을 통해 본 일제의 예방구금제도 운영

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to trace and restore the later life of Baek Cho-wol, a monk and independence activist. During this process, I examined together the historical preventive detention system implemented by the Japanese Empire in 1941 in order to control ideological crimes. Baek Cho-wol founded a religious group called Ilsimkyo as a secret society for the independence movement, and in 1939, he carried out propaganda activities such as "Long live Korean independence” on military trains at Yongsan Station to raise awareness of independence. He was subsequently imprisoned in Seodaemun Prison and then transferred to Cheongju Prison, where he died. But the reasons and process for his transfer to Cheongju Prison have never been clearly revealed. The author pointed out the possibility that Baek Cho-wol may have been held as a preventive detention center, noting that Cheongju Prison had been used as a preventive detention center since 1943. Preventive detention is a measure that allows the detention period to be extended indefinitely for so-called "ideological criminals who do not convert” to ideological crimes after completing the full sentence of their sentence in violation of the Maintenance of Public Order Act and other laws. The fact that Baek Cho-wol was subjected to preventive detention means that he was not handed over to the Japanese Empire until the very end. This shows the character of Baek Cho-wol, a monk who refused to accept Japanese colonial rule and continued the independence movement until the very end.