KORThe post deals with the life of Kim Ik-nam, who—much like actor Ha-young's great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho—studied modern medicine in Japan with government support during the late Korean Empire, but lived a completely different life from Ahn. His path is receiving renewed attention.
According to the Korean Empire-era nationalist newspaper Daehan Maeil Sinbo and other historical sources, actor Ha-young's great-grandfather Ahn Sang-ho went to Japan as a government-funded international student in 1898 to study at the Tokyo Jikei-in School of Medicine. After obtaining a Japanese medical license, he engaged in medical activities locally.
Kim Ik-nam was a senior who graduated from the same Jikei-in School of Medicine three years before Ahn.
Despite graduating from the same school, the two men showed completely different attitudes when asked to accept professorship appointments at "Uihakgyo," the Korean Empire's first national modern medical education institution.
After graduating from the Jikei-in School of Medicine in July 1899, Kim Ik-nam received a request from the Korean Empire government to take office as a professor at Uihakgyo, and he returned to Korea in August 1900 to assume the post.
Serving as a professor at Uihakgyo for four years, he produced a total of 32 modern Korean doctors.
He left a distinct mark on the history of modern Korean medicine by fostering the very first group of doctors trained in modern medical education at a time when the sovereignty of the Korean Empire was under severe threat.
The person appointed to succeed Kim Ik-nam as a professor at Uihakgyo was none other than Ahn Sang-ho.
However, despite being appointed as a professor in October 1904, Ahn Sang-ho refused to return to Korea and was dismissed three months later.
Ahn returned to Korea only after Uihakgyo was forcibly integrated into Daehan Hospital by the Japanese Resident-General in 1907.
Unlike Ahn Sang-ho, who faced suspicions of pro-Japanese activities—such as having his name listed as a council member of the pro-Japanese organization Daejeong Chinmokhoe—various materials confirm that Kim Ik-nam kept his distance from Japanese imperialism and suffered disadvantages as a result.
He participated in a memorial project for independence activist Jeong Jae-hong, who took his own life after a failed attempt to assassinate Hirobumi Ito in June 1907.
Due to this, he faced various disadvantages from Japanese colonial authorities and ultimately failed to receive the "Medical Practice License," an official medical license issued by the Japanese colonial government to control the Korean medical community.
Despite his remarkable achievements, Kim Ik-nam's life remained relatively unknown and buried until it began to be properly illuminated in the 2000s.
Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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