Ho Hon
허헌
From civil-rights lawyer of the March 1st Movement to first Chairman of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly: a progressive nationalist
When he submitted a motion of non-prosecution during the March 1st Movement trial, the Japanese courtroom erupted in protest — and the scene, reported nationwide, made Ho Hon the symbol of the anti-colonial lawyer.
One of colonial Korea's 'three great civil-rights lawyers,' he defended the 47 national representatives of the March 1st Movement and handled pro bono cases for workers and independence activists. Elected chairman of Singanhoe's Central Executive Committee in 1927, he led the united-front anti-Japanese struggle, and after liberation served as Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Korea and chairman of the South Korean Workers' Party before crossing north, becoming the bridge by which Korea's independence movement passed into socialism.
Career timeline
- 1907Passed the first Korean Empire bar examination
- 1919Defended March 1st Movement leaders; President, Korean Bar Association
- 1927Chairman, Central Executive Committee of Singanhoe
- 1945Vice Chairman, Preparatory Committee; Prime Minister, People's Republic of Korea
- 1946Chairman, South Korean Workers' Party
- 1948Chairman, Supreme People's Assembly; President, Kim Il Sung University