Lee Dong-hwi

An independence activist and former military officer of the Korean Empire, he served as the first Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. After resigning as the commander of the Ganghwa Garrison during the late Joseon Dynasty, he led educational and patriotic enlightenment movements through the establishment of Bochang School and his participation in the Shinminhoe. In 1913, he went into exile in North Gando and the Maritime Province, where he led the establishment of Daejeon School and Christian evangelism. In 1918, he founded the Korean Socialist Party, the first socialist party of Koreans, in Khabarovsk. Although he assumed the position of Prime Minister of the Provisional Government in Shanghai in 1919, he resigned due to conflicts over political direction. Subsequently, he met privately with Lenin in Moscow to secure funds for the independence movement and waged a transnational anti-imperialist struggle. In his later years, he dedicated himself to supporting comrades in Vladivostok through the operation of the Goryeo Library and activities of MOPR, until his death.