In honour of women’s history month, every day in March, I’ll be highlighting a woman who changed the world.
Today’s woman is the first Korean female aviator, Kwon Ki-Ok.
Name: Kwon Ki-Ok
Born: 11th January 1901 in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Died: 19th April 1988
Iconic for: Being the first Korean female pilot and fighting for Korean independence.
Life summary: Kwon Ki-Ok was first attracted to aviation after seeing an aerobatics performance by stunt pilot, Art Smith, but her ambitions were delayed by her political allegiances. In a time that Japan was ruling over Korea, Ki-Ok was a supporter of Korean independence. At school she became a part of a secret group called the Songjookhui which participated in anti-Japanese activities and, post graduation, she attended the March 1st Movement, one of the earliest protests of Korean resistance. For this she was arrested and spent three weeks in jail but, undeterred by her punishment, she was released from jail only to be thrown back in for assisting the Korean Patriotic Women’s Association with fundraising. After this, she sought exile in China and it was here that her aviation career really began.
She enrolled at the Hongdao Women’s School to learn Chinese and English and completed the four year course in two years. With the support of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which was stationed in Shanghai, she entered the Republic of China Air Force school. The course was rigorous and, due to how physically strenuous men found it, was thought too difficult for women. When she graduated in 1925, she was the only woman in the graduating class. She served the Chinese military force and rose up to the rank of Lieutenant colonel and is recognised as the first female pilot in China.
After the end of World War II and with Korean having finally gained independence, Ki-Ok returned to Korea. She helped form the Republic of Korea Air Force and served as a member of South Korea’s Ministry of Defence during the Korean War.
Kwon Ki-Ok’s legacy is sometimes brushed over: Park Kyung-Won graduated from aviation school two years after Kwon Ki-Ok but is often mis-remembered as the first Korean female pilot. This mistake is so ingrained into the public legacy that it was a big element of the advertising for Blue Swallow, a biopic on Kyung-Won’s life, until critics pointed out the factual inaccuracies. As there is a tendency to forget about Kwon Ki-Ok, the poignancy of remembering her and what she stood for is more potent. She was a trailblazer and a rebel who never considered giving up on her dreams, firstly of living in an independent Korea and secondly of being an aviator.
Crackle 