Park Kyung-won (Korean: 박경원; 24 June 1901 – 7 August 1933) was the first female Korean civilian aviator.
Park Kyung-won | |
|---|---|
 Park in 1927 as "Miss Boku" | |
| Born | June 24, 1901 |
| Died | August 7, 1933 (aged 32) |
| Occupation | Aviator |
| Park Kyung-won | |
| Hangul | 박경원 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 朴敬元 |
| Revised Romanization | Bak Gyeong-won |
| McCune–Reischauer | Pak Kyŏng'wŏn |
Park is not the first female Korean pilot, however. That title is generally given to Kwon Ki-ok, who was trained by the Republic of China Air Force.[1]
Park is the subject of the controversial 2005 South Korean film Blue Swallow, in which she was portrayed by actress Jang Jin-young.[2]
Early life
editPark was born in Daegu, Gyeongsang-do.[1] From 1912 to 1916, she attended Daegu's Myeongsin Women's School, a Presbyterian missionary school operated by Americans; a year after her graduation, on 13 September 1917, she departed her hometown for Japan. Upon her arrival in Japan, she initially settled in Yokohama's Minamiyoshida-machi, where she enrolled in the Kasahara Industrial Training School, spending two and a half years. From 1919, she began attending a Korean church in Yokohama, and later converted to Christianity. In February 1920, she returned to Daegu to enter a nursing school there; though her true aim was to become a pilot, she needed to earn money for the tuition fees first.[1][3]
Aviation career
editIn January 1925, Park returned to Japan, where she finally enrolled in an aviation school in Kamata (present-day Ōta, Tokyo). She had initially hoped to attend the same flight school as An Chang-nam, the first Korean male pilot, but it had burned down in 1923. She graduated and took the test for her third-class pilot's licence on 25 January 1927; she obtained the licence three days later. On 30 July of the following year, she obtained her second-class pilot's licence.[1][3]
On 4 May 1933, Park was chosen to fly on a new route between Japan and Manchukuo. She flew to Seoul on 19 May to meet with government officials there. At 10:35 AM on 7 August 1933, she took off in her Salmson 2 A2 biplane, named the Blue Swallow,[4] from Tokyo's Haneda Airport on one such flight to Manchuria; she crashed 42 minutes later near Hakone, Kanagawa and died.[3][5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "映画『青燕』、韓国初の女性飛行士めぐり論争 (Movie 'Blue Swallow' and the debate about Korea's first female aviator)". Chosun Online. 2005-10-16. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
- ^ Kim, Tae-jong (2006-02-22). "'Blue Swallow' faces turbulence". HanCinema. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ^ a b c 현, 해탄 (1999-12-25). "우리나라 최초의 여류 비행사 박경원 (Our country's first female pilot, Park Kyung-won)". Arirang News. Archived from the original on January 18, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-23.
- ^ Pae-yong Yi (2008). Women in Korean History. Ewha Womans University Press. p. 230. ISBN 9788973007721.
- ^ Jeong, Hye-ju (2005-05-19). "제국주의의 치어걸, 누가 미화하는가 (Who will try to glorify the cheerleader for imperialism?)". OhmyNews. Retrieved 2007-05-24.
Further reading
edit- Kanō, Makiyo (January 1994). 越えられなかった海峡―女性飛行士朴敬元の生涯 (Impassable Straits: The life of female pilot Park Kyung-won). Jiji Tsūshin. ISBN 4788794039.