Statue of Haegong Shin Ik-hee

To commemorate the achievements of Haegong Shin Ik-hee, a independence activist who devoted himself to the nation's independence and the development of democracy, the statue was erected in Cheonho-dong under the supervision of Gangdong-gu Office. Haegong Shin Ik-hee was born in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province in 1894. After graduating from Hansung Government Foreign Language School in 1910, he entered the Department of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University in Japan in 1912, organized the student union Hakwoohoe, and published the journal Hakjigwang to promote national spirit and independence ideology. Returning to Korea in 1913, he opened Dongmyeong Gangsuepso in his hometown to spread new culture and enlightenment ideas. In 1919, he distributed the Declaration of Independence and led the March First Movement. That year, fleeing arrest by Japanese police, he went into exile in Shanghai, participated in the establishment of the Provisional Government, and served as Vice Minister of Home Affairs, Secretary General of the State Council, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Home Affairs. He returned to Korea upon national liberation. After returning, he served as the Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party and Speaker of the National Assembly. In 1956, as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, he exerted all his efforts to realize democracy, but died of a cerebral hemorrhage on a train while on a campaign speech tour.