Seok Joo-myung
Encyclopedia
Seok Joo-myung was a Korea
n entomologist
who made significant contributions to the taxonomy
of the native butterfly species of Korea. He also became a noted linguist and pacifist
He was born in Pyongyang
, North Korea, on November 13, 1908. His life had been tough during Japanese colonial era from 1910 to 1945 and a sudden attack took away his life on October 6, 1950. He graduated from Kagoshima college and Keijo Imperial University
in Japan in 1929 and became a high school biology teacher. From that time, he dedicated his life to butterflies, esperanto and Jeju research. Korean people call him Korean Fabre, lightening his brilliant achievements in the dark period.
In 1940 A Synonymic list of butterflies of Korea was published by The Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. It was the first time for a Korean to be sponsored by the British Royal academy. After that, he was selected as a regular member of world entomology.
Throughout his entire life, he had collected 750,000 butterflies samples and sorted and marked the locations on the Korean maps and world maps each way. When the Korean War
broke out, he tried hard to keep his samples and maps so he couldn't escape Seoul. Unfortunately, his collections were totally burnt. With his sister's brave efforts of carrying the maps on her back, the distribution maps of Korean butterflies by Sok, Chumyong, in 1973> was safely released in the world after his death. The book is made of 500 maps with red mark with accuracy. Due to his research of Korean butterflies, modern entomology on butterfly has been being studied by a great number of scholars in the field.
After liberation, he, was in charge of zoology of the national museum. During the Korean War, he was mistaken as one of the North Korea's Peoples army and got shot in the middle of chaos to protect his samples. It was said that just right before his death, he shouted "I know butterflies only."
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n entomologist
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
who made significant contributions to the taxonomy
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
of the native butterfly species of Korea. He also became a noted linguist and pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
He was born in Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
, North Korea, on November 13, 1908. His life had been tough during Japanese colonial era from 1910 to 1945 and a sudden attack took away his life on October 6, 1950. He graduated from Kagoshima college and Keijo Imperial University
Keijo Imperial University
was a Japanese Imperial University that existed in Seoul between 1924 and the end of World War II.-History:...
in Japan in 1929 and became a high school biology teacher. From that time, he dedicated his life to butterflies, esperanto and Jeju research. Korean people call him Korean Fabre, lightening his brilliant achievements in the dark period.
Main scientific work
Japanese scientists said that there were 844 species of Korean butterflies but he made a great effort to collect 167,847 of cabbage butterflies throughout the Korean peninsular and compared their patterns and measured the length of front wings with a ruler by himself. He drew a conclusion that even though the wing patterns are different, they might not be different species and got rid of many wrong scientific names posted by Japanese prematurely and proved that they are individually changed adapting to surroundings and classified Chosun butterflies into 244 species. He longed for Chosun independence so he set the first stone for the classification of Chosun butterflies through his enormous samples he labeled butterflies Korean name and add seok. especialiy he named an undiscovered butterfly Mt Jiri Palang butterfly for the first time in the world.In 1940 A Synonymic list of butterflies of Korea was published by The Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. It was the first time for a Korean to be sponsored by the British Royal academy. After that, he was selected as a regular member of world entomology.
Throughout his entire life, he had collected 750,000 butterflies samples and sorted and marked the locations on the Korean maps and world maps each way. When the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
broke out, he tried hard to keep his samples and maps so he couldn't escape Seoul. Unfortunately, his collections were totally burnt. With his sister's brave efforts of carrying the maps on her back, the distribution maps of Korean butterflies by Sok, Chumyong, in 1973> was safely released in the world after his death. The book is made of 500 maps with red mark with accuracy. Due to his research of Korean butterflies, modern entomology on butterfly has been being studied by a great number of scholars in the field.
Later activities and death
He wrote a small dictionary Lernolibro de Esperato Kun Vortaeto 1947 because he was deeply involved in international peace movement to resist Japanese imperialism. He didn't change his Korean name into Japanese name until liberation. he voluntarily transferred to the Jeju natural medicine laboratory in seoguipo, Jeju Island in 1943. while he had been working here for two years, he was fascinated by particularity of Jeju culture and absorbed in Jeju exploration. Six general books: Jeju dialect, Jeju population, Jeju document, Jeju essay, history of Jeju insect, and Jeju data, were published. These are valuable resources for Jeju study.After liberation, he, was in charge of zoology of the national museum. During the Korean War, he was mistaken as one of the North Korea's Peoples army and got shot in the middle of chaos to protect his samples. It was said that just right before his death, he shouted "I know butterflies only."