The New Korean Youth Association (Korean: 신한청년당; Hanja: 新韓靑年黨) was an independence movement organization founded around August 1918 in Shanghai, China. It played a significant role around the time of the March First Movement in 1919. The leader of the association was Lyuh Woon-hyung. The six founding members were Lyuh Woon-hyung, , , , , and Cho Dong-ho. Additionally, in April 1919, individuals such as , Kim Gu, Yi Kwang-su, and joined and actively participated in the association.
The association's platform consisted of three core principles: Korean Independence, Social Reform, and Global Unity (Great Harmony). In December 1918, they delivered a petition for independence to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. In January 1919, they dispatched Kim Kyu-sik to the Paris Peace Conference to demand the independence of Korea. Furthermore, they established close communication networks with Tokyo, the Russian Maritime Province (Primorsky Krai), and the Americas. Due to the active efforts of the New Korean Youth Association in 1919, it became the source that inspired Korean international students in Japan to declare the February 8 Declaration of Independence and sparked the nation-wide March First Movement within Korea. Members of this group formed the backbone of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which was established on April 11, 1919. The Provisional Government appointed Kim Kyu-sik, who was in Paris, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and had him submit the petition for independence. Later, in December 1922, the association dissolved following a voluntary dissolution order from the Provisional Government.
History Foundation The New Korean Youth Association was founded around August 20, 1918, in the Shanghai French Concession, initiated by six members: Lyuh Woon-hyung, , , Chang Duk-soo, , and Cho Dong-ho. Lyuh Woon-hyung, the central figure of the foundation, went into exile in China in 1914, graduated from Nanjing University, and was working in Shanghai at the Mission Book Company, a publisher and seller of Christian books. During this time, he met Chang Duk-soo, who had stopped by Shanghai after completing his studies in Japan. As a result of discussing strategies for the independence movement, the two agreed that youth-led movements were particularly important in the Korean independence movement, which was bound to be a long-term struggle. Kim Chul, Sunwoo Hyuk, Han Jin-gyo, and Cho Dong-ho, who were also staying in Shanghai at the time, actively agreed with this idea, and these six individuals became the initiators who founded the New Korean Youth Association. Initially, they held regular meetings and discussions every Saturday without an official "party name." The name "New Korean Youth Association" was hastily adopted in November 1918, inspired and modeled by Lyuh Woon-hyung after the "Young Turks" led by Turkish politician Kemal Atatürk. At that time, about ten members of the Young Turks were active in Shanghai. Lyuh Woon-hyung learned about the existence and organization of the Young Turks from a fellow foreign international student, Armel Bey, and used it as a reference.
According to its statement of purpose, the founding goal of the New Korean Youth Association was 'to achieve independence, and after recovering independence, to reform the nation culturally and morally to create a New Korean people, and to foster capability by promoting academia and industry so that the new culture of the Korean people would bring great happiness to all mankind.' Furthermore, the ideology of the association proclaimed in the statement of purpose could be summarized as nationalism (independence thought), democracy, republicanism, social reformism, and international pacifism. The association aimed 'to win the independence of the Korean nation, establish a republican democratic state, implement appropriate major reforms in all sectors of society in line with the trends of the times, and build a homeland that engages in international cooperation so that the new culture created by the Korean nation can contribute to all mankind.'
Organizational Structure When the New Korean Youth Association was founded, there were only six members. However, around late November 1918, when the dispatch of Kim Kyu-sik to the Paris Peace Conference was discussed, the membership increased to about 20. By the following year, the number of members grew to around 30 to 50. Since the association initially had very few members, it did not set up separate departments, and Lyuh Woon-hyung handled all the affairs of the association as both the representative and general manager. However, as the membership grew and the independence movement began in earnest, they enacted a party constitution, documented their platform, and systematized the organization by defining departments between late November and late December 1918. The party constitution regulated the purpose and organization of the association. The party platform was as follows:
Following the constitution and platform, the New Korean Youth Association reorganized its structure, abolishing the general manager system and implementing a president, chairman of the board, and board of directors system. The association left the position of president vacant and elected Kim Kyu-sik, a new member who was chosen to be dispatched as the representative to the Paris Peace Conference, as the chairman of the board. Under a board of up to ten directors, they established the General Affairs Department, Public Relations Department, and Finance Department. was elected for General Affairs, Lyuh Woon-hyung for Public Relations, and for Finance as the responsible directors. Consequently, while Lyuh Woon-hyung and Chang Duk-soo mainly handled the association's affairs immediately after its foundation in August 1918, an organizational structure was formed from late November 1918 where Lyuh Woon-hyung, Seo Byung-ho, and Kim In-jeon managed the association's operations.
Activities in the March First Movement The New Korean Youth Association, guided by Shin Kyu-sik, was a small-scale youth independence movement group composed of young agents from the . However, as a subordinate organization of Dongjesa—a secret international organization led by Shin Kyu-sik, the godfather of the independence revolution—it played a leading role in the February 8 Declaration of Independence and the March First Movement the following year, and also made a massive contribution to the establishment of the Provisional Government.
Dispatch of the Independence Petition
When World War I ended on November 11, 1918, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson immediately dispatched presidential envoy Charles R. Crane to China to explain the U.S. position on the post-war peace conference and advise China to send representatives as well. When Envoy Crane arrived in Shanghai, the Chinese side hosted a welcome reception for the U.S. envoy at the 'Carlton Cafe,' which Lyuh Woon-hyung, representing the New Korean Youth Association, also attended. At this venue, upon hearing Envoy Crane's speech that 'the principle of national self-determination could be discussed as a principle for handling colonies after the defeat,' Lyuh Woon-hyung visited Crane at his lodging and asked whether it would be possible to send a representative of the Korean nation. Although Crane replied that he could not speak for the U.S. government but would personally offer support, Lyuh Woon-hyung called a meeting of the New Korean Youth Association to discuss the matter. In the meeting held at Lyuh's lodging, it was decided to send Kim Kyu-sik, who was residing in Tianjin, to the Paris Peace Conference as the representative of the New Korean Youth Association and Korea. In case they could not raise enough travel expenses to send a representative, they also decided to draft two petitions regarding independence under the name of Lyuh Woon-hyung, the general manager of the association, and deliver one to U.S. President Wilson and the other to the Paris Peace Conference through Crane. Following this decision, Lyuh Woon-hyung drafted two petitions regarding Korean independence in English dated November 28, 1918, and sent them to Wilson through Crane. This document was successfully delivered. In addition, Lyuh Woon-hyung entrusted two identical petitions regarding Korean independence to Thomas Millard, who was going as an advisor to the Chinese delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, in case the Korean representative could not attend. However, this document was not delivered because Millard lost his bag at the port of Yokohama, Japan.
Dispatch of Representative to the Paris Peace Conference
The New Korean Youth Association, under the guidance of Yegwan Shin Kyu-sik, held consultations and decided to admit Kim Kyu-sik, who was fluent in English, into the association and simultaneously elect him as the Chairman of the Board, appointing him as both the representative of the association and the Korean nation to the Paris Peace Conference. The expenses were raised by secretly dispatching Chang Duk-soo to Korea, and Kim Kyu-sik departed Shanghai by ship on February 1, 1919. The fact that the association dispatched Kim Kyu-sik to the Paris Peace Conference as the representative of the Korean nation was of great significance to the subsequent March First Movement. This fact was communicated to citizens, independence activists in Korea, and Korean international students in Japan through secret envoys, and the Korean nation rose up in the March First Movement with the purpose of making Kim Kyu-sik's arguments and declarations in Paris clearly express the will of the entire Korean nation to the world. The dispatch of Kim Kyu-sik to the Paris Peace Conference by the association provided a very decisive and important catalyst and focal point for the March First Movement. Kim Kyu-sik arrived at his destination, Paris, France, on March 13, 1919, rented a house at 38 Rue de Châteaudun, established the Korean National Delegation Office, and submitted a petition regarding Korean independence to the peace conference. Kim Kyu-sik subsequently submitted the "Petition for Korean Independence" to the peace conference on May 10, 1919, with the help of U.S. citizen Homer Hulbert, Yi Gwan-yong, Kim Bok, Hwang Gi-hwan, Cho Yong-eunThe original name of Jo So-ang., and Lyuh Woon-hong, who joined the delegation later. In addition, the delegation drafted numerous promotional documents for the independence movement, including a booklet titled "Korean Independence and Peace," and distributed them to representatives of various countries and journalists, widely proclaiming the Korean desire for independence to the entire world. Although Kim Kyu-sik arrived and operated in Paris as the representative of the New Korean Youth Association, when the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established in Shanghai in April 1919, the Provisional Government appointed Kim Kyu-sik as the official representative of the Republic of Korea to the Peace Conference and Minister to Paris, and Yi Gwan-yong as the vice-representative.
Dispatch of Members to Korea