This was written by my father, Dr. Je H. Min, in honor of my mom.

Three years exactly since my mother passed away. She always wanted it be published in English. I miss you, Mom.

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Korea Civil Aviation History!

Let’s look at it through the lifetime biography of Korea civil aviation pioneer Captain Yong-Wook Shinn, Founder of Korean National Airlines, the first airline in Korea, which is the Korea Civil Aviation History itself.

1. Boys dreaming of “Fly in the sky”

On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers in Ohio, USA, finally succeeded in a 12-second, 37-meter flight in the Kitty Hawk along the shoreline in North Carolina. This little success has made the dream of mankind flying in the sky fulfilled, and it has become a great first step to make the earth one village and go out into space. These two brothers, Orville and Wilbur, who operated a bicycle shop, brought new science, technology and new dreams to the next boys in human history.

Human history has flowed from the earth to the sea, into the sky and into space. Sixty years later, the United States made its first step on the Moon’s surface with the success of the Apollo launch. Since then, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been flooding the Voyagers into space.

2. The “Children of Chosun” (Korea) during the Japan’s colonial era were also dreaming of flying in the sky.

Chang-nam Ahn, who attended Wheemoon middle school in Korea, went to Oguri aviation school in Japan and became the first aviator of Chosun (Korea). After him, Duck-chang Chang and the first female aviator, Kyung-won Park, were trained to become aviators at Oguri Flight School.

Those days, also the pioneer of Korea Civil Aviation, Yong-wook Shinn, after graduation of the Wheemoon Middle school and then the Oguri Flight school, transferred to Doa Flight school in Japan, becoming the first 1st-class aviator and   the first 1st-class pilot in Korea. Afterwards, Yong-wook Shinn bought his own latest model wooden plane (Aburo No. 504 K-type Tiger) with his family money becoming the first Chosun person (Korean) who owned one’s own plane.

By this plane of his, on December 14, 1927, he flew from Tokyo to Seoul, crossing the Hyuhae strait (between Japan and Korea), refueling in Woolsan, Korea and continuing to fly the sky of Korea, and successfully landed in Seoul’s Yeouido airport .

After landing on Yeouido, Yong-wook Shinn made his thank-you speech to the welcoming crowd in Korean for Koreans. Those days under the Japanese rule, it was an anti-Japanese act that could put him under surveillance by Japanese authorities.

After his thank-you speech, Yong-wook Shinn with a Dong-ah Ilbo (daily) women reporter covering his historic flight aboard flew to Chang-duck Palace, to first express courtesy to the Emperor of Chosun, and then continued flying the sky of Seoul for 17 minutes. After that, crowds gathered at Yongsan Airfield (now, the location of the Korean Army Headquarters) to see the process of his takeoff, flying and landing. They looked miraculously at the sight of man flying the sky. For the Koreans, the flight was still a wonder.

The history of (Korea) Chosun’s aviation began in earnest and seriously. Yong-wook Shinn’s age at the time was just 25.

 

2.1. Established Chosun (Korea) Flight School (in 1930)

At the same time, Nashio, a Japanese, established the Chosun Aviation Research Institute with the support of Japan’s Chosun Governor General. In 1927, Nashio also started getting involved in the Chosun aviation business and was conducting a test flight under the request of the Japanese Chosun Governor.

During this period, Yong-wook Shinn established the Chosun Flight School in 1930, the first one in Korea for Koreans, emphasizing the need for aviation education also for Koreans in the midst of difficulties that the Chosun Governorate was not willing to allow Chosun people (Koreans) to receive such the education.

Yong-wook Shinn used his personal asset to open the Chosun Flight School. He brought a plane from the United States for the school. He operated a taxi company and a bicycle company to help solve the difficult school financial needs.

He also ran the sightseeing flight business: charged 5 Won for flying around the Seoul sky; 10 Won for a round trip to Incheon, a neighboring city. Since a 80 Kg bale of rice was about 13 Won at the time (currently about 150,000 Won), the plane fare was rather expensive. At that time, however, flying on the plane had a psychological value that could not be calculated with money.

In 1933, Yong-wook Shinn who had a childhood dream of “flying the sky” even had his own wedding ceremony in his airplane.

On July 21, 1934, Yong-wook Shinn was asked to be the pilot for the Chosun Daily’s news reporting flights over the areas flood-stricken by heavy rain in the southern Young-nam and Ho-nam provinces. This flight news coverage, the first in the Korean press history, became a big topic of those days in the country.

The airplane used for the flight coverage was the Salmuson 2A2 made in France, which Chosun Daily chartered from Japan. The filming team aboard in the Salmuson piloted by Yong-wook Shinn filmed the flood damage scene by the film projectors and delivered it vividly to the public in a recorded movie form.

The airplane was used not only as the airplane news coverage, but also for relief activities for victims isolated from the floodgates and the release of alms from the air. At the time, Yong-wook Shinn left behind a record of his impressions of the first airplane coverage in our Chosun (Korea) history. And he also air-delivered the Chosun daily newspapers to distant places such as Daegu, Yongcheon, Gyeongju, Pohang, and Ulsan.

 

2.2. Established Chosun (Korea) Aviation Business Company, Inc. (in1936)

In 1936, standing up to face Nashio’s Chosun Aviation Research Institute, Yong-wook Shinn established the Chosun Aviation Business Company and started regular flights twice a week between Gyungseong (Seoul) and Eree (another local city) and soon extended its route to Gwangju (another major city).

This Aviation Business Company became the starting point of the civil aviation transportation business in Korea.

After that, Yong-wook Shinn made airfields (airports) for local cities; Chungjin, Hamheung, Hyesanjin and Sineuiju, and opened up the air routes for these places. Initially, he mainly carried mails and cargo. At that time, the airfield was a lawn, a simple pinwheel was installed to inform the wind direction, and just a few mechanics started working.

(Some airplanes used by Chosun Flight School and Chosun Aviation Business Company)

Yong-wook Shinn knew he could use the airplane for a variety of purposes. So, he also did an aviation fishermen flight flying at a low altitude for fish detection, such as where the Sardine group for instance is moving to, along the East coast and the West coast including major cities like Chungjin, Wonsan, and Ulsan.

These fish detection flights helped fishermen greatly, and were met excitingly with many thanks by the fishermen. He also helped catch yellow croaker and squid. Nashio worked for Japanese and Yong-wook Shinn worked for the Korean fishermen. In addition, he also sprinkled pesticides for farmers by a low altitude flight for his hometown province, Jeollanam-Do.

After that, when the Pacific war broke out with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the airplanes of the Chosun Aviation Business Company were mobilized as war military materials. Also, in 1944, by the directions of the Japanese Navy, Yong-wook Shinn established Chosun Aviation Equipment Manufacturing Company for the production of airplane equipment, gliders and etc.

To be noted is that he, for this Aviation Equipment Manufacturing Company, hired some 300 Korean engineers to help them exempted from Japanese army conscripts.

3. Liberation from Japan and Korean National Airlines (KNA)

3.1. Korean National Airlines (KNA) established (1948).

On August 15, 1945, Japan was defeated in the Pacific War and surrendered to the United States, and Chosun (Korea) was liberated. Three years after the US military governance, the government of the Republic of Korea was newly established on August 15, 1948 and the first President Seung-Man Rhee government began.

During the initial transitional period under the US military governance, Yong-wook Shinn was imprisoned for doing pro-Japanese activities during the Japanese rule, as many prominent people at that time had experienced. He was found not guilty and released after four months in prison.

As soon as the government of the Republic of Korea was established, Yong- wook Shinn made an opportunity to meet President Seung-man Rhee through the relevant government ministries, and persuaded the President the need to have at least one airline in Korea to help uphold the dignity of the independent nation.

After that, Yong-wook Shinn received the support of President Seung-man Rhee on the necessity of an airline company in Korea. In 1948, he bought 3 five-seat Stinson Station Wagon light aircrafts from the United States with a loan from a trust bank secured by his own personal property.

And then, on October 1, 1948, Yong-wook Shinn set up a new office in a building at #1 Jongno street, Seoul, and established Korea’s first civil aviation company, known as Korean National Airlines, KNA.  

The three Stinson Station Wagon light aircrafts he purchased were brought into the Busan (a major city) Port by ship in September of that year. And Yong-wook Shinn and his KNA pilots assembled the three Stinson airplanes on the coastal road of Busan No.3 vessel pier and the planes took off by a narrow margin using a short 400 meter coastal road as runway.

So, for the first time, the airplanes owned by a Korean company flew in the sky of an independent Korean territory and went to Gimhae (near Busan) airfield. Those who are still around say that the excitement and joy at that time are still hard to express. These people also say that at the time Yong-wook Shinn said;

“Yes, we start this way. But there will be a time when this country could also make big planes and fly them.”

After that, at 10am sharp on October 30, 1948 as scheduled, after completing all test flights, the Korean National Airlines, KNA’s Stinson airplane as its first passenger flight with two passengers aboard left the Seoul Gimpo airport and landed at the Busan’s Gimhae airfield at 12 Noon. This was the dramatic big start of the civil aviation passenger transportation business in Korea.

Later in 1981, that day, October 30, was enacted as Korea’s “Air Day”.

A commemorative stamp was issued in commemoration of the first civil passenger flight on October 30, 1981, and a Presidential Medal was presented to Mrs. Yong-wook Shinn on behalf of the late KNA President, Captain Yong-wook Shinn.

By the way, Yong-wook Shinn liked to be called Captain Shinn during his days.

A TV picture of KBS broadcasting that Korean National Airlines (KNA) is the 1st civil airlines company in Korea founded in October of 1948

 

A TV picture shown by KBS commemorating the Korea’s “Air day”, October 30.

In 1950, at the proposition of President Seung-man Rhee, Yong-wook Shinn entered the Congressional election of his home town Go-chang congressional district of the Jeolabuk-do province and became a National Assembly (Congress) man in the 2nd National Assembly of the Republic of Korea and was also re-elected as a National Assembly man in the 3rd National Assembly.

For his election campaigns, using the method he used to use to spray pesticides for farmers from airplanes, Yong-wook Shinn dropped (air-distributed) campaign leaflets from his Stinson airplane flying at a low altitude in the Go-chang congressional district. It was Korea’s first flying election promotion method and an example of showing another creativity of his in using the airplanes.

Yong-wook Shinn initially got into politics at other’s will and became a National Assembly man. Consequently, however, in the context of Korean social politics at that time, the fact that he worked in the National Assembly was a big plus in terms of not only being able to grow his KNA but also developing the Korea civil aviation in its early days.

3.2. The Korean War as an opportunity for aviation development

The growth process of Korea civil aviation was not an easy one. Before the excitement of the early days of the Korea civil aviation barely subsides, sadly the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950. The unfortunate and destructive war began with the invasion of North Korea led by Il Sung Kim’s Communist Party.

As soon as the 6.25 Korean War broke out, two of the KNA’s Stinson airplanes were conscripted to military use and the remaining one was used to fly to Busan for    evacuation. And then it was also conscripted to the military. So, KNA was left with no airplane. But he did not get despaired. With a new hope, he got a small office in the back alley of Gwangbok town in Busan in the Spring of 1952 and resumed his airline business with the sign of English name, Korean National Airlines (KNA). This was officially the beginning of the English name, KNA.

First, Yong-wook Shinn rented two Douglass DC-3 passenger planes and brought these planes to Soo-Young airfield not far from Busan. Using Soo-Young as a base, he started his airline business, again carrying passengers for a short 20 minute flight between Busan and Taegu (another big city) and then gradually extending to flights of Busan to Kwangju (another big city) and Busan to Seoul.

Later on, Yong-wook Shinn opened an international flight route between Busan and Tokyo by using CAT’s landing right in Japan of which use was made possible through the negotiation with the US Far East Command. This helped open an opportunity for Koreans in Japan to more easily visit Korea, home country, and also helped air-carry UN military reporters too. This started making KNA begin to actively prosper.

In the early days of KNA, a text of KOREANAIR was shown on the body of the airplane, and the national flag mark and a sign of KNA were marked on the tail of the airplane. At that time, the cable address for transmission was “KOREANAIR”. The Korean Air brand name, “KOREANAIR”, was already being used by KNA’s credit cards at that time. Later during KNA’s era of prosperity, the text on the body of the plane was officially changed to “Korean National Airlines”..

 

3.3. Rising from the ruins of the War into the period of KNA’s prosperity

The big moment for KNA was the luck that KNA was able to borrow $1 million from the Government in 1953. At the approval of President Seung-man Rhee, Goong-ryun Nahm of Kukdong Shipping Group, Nak-seung Back of Barkrim Textile and Yong-wook Shinn of KNA received a $ 1 million loan each from the Bank of Korea.

The justification for the loan was that the country should have a ship and an airplane. There was a lot of talk about the million dollar loan that Barkrim Textile received. But, there was no big problem for the loan that KNA received because KNA as an airline business was well justified to receive the loan and the airplane at the time was very expensive to purchase.   

KNA bought two passenger jet planes DC-3 and DC-4 plus Korea’s first helicopter from the United States with one million dollars. The DC-3 was used for domestic flights carrying passengers among Seoul, Busan and other domestic cities, while the DC-4 was used as charter flights between Seoul and Hong Kong as well as Seoul and the United States. Yoon-wook Shinn traveled to the US for training to pilot the helicopter to be purchased and graduated from the Hiller Helicopter School in the US in 1953, becoming the only Asian helicopter pilot at that time.

Such the way began the 1950s for KNA, with the period of prosperity but unfortunately followed by suffering.

Yong- wook Shinn’s aviation business connected all major cities in the mainland of South Korea and also developed the Seoul-Jeju island route. From 1955, with the permission for flights between Korea and the United States, KNA, although irregularly operated, helped poor Korean students and also War orphans when they were adopted by the US fly to the US.

Yong-wook Shinn helped the government to develop Gimpo (near Seoul) as an international airport.

During the Japanese rule, Yeoido (near Seoul) was used for a sort of passenger flights while Gimpo was used as a military air field. After liberation from Japan and suffering through the 6.25 Korean War later in 1950, Gimpo started being used as an airport for the US Air Force.

However, Korea needed Gimpo as Korea, actually KNA, was attracting international flights. In 1957, the Korean Cabinet designated Gimpo as the “International Airport”, and the next year in 1958, by a Presidential decree, it was established as an international airport, and returned to the jurisdiction of the Korean government three years later

Yong-wook Shinn began to develop KNA agencies in other key countries around the world, and through this, he dreamed of globalization of Korean civil aviation by highlighting the image of Korea as a country of tourism. At that time, the diplomatic relation with Japan was not yet normalized, so he could not open the Japan route and the Seoul-Tokyo flights were not possible. People those days felt sorry that KNA could only fly to Taiwan and Hong Kong..

In the 1950s, Yong-wook Shinn put Korean National Airlines, KNA, in the era of internationalization in the ruins of the Korean War. Here are some of the airlines that KNA has connected at the time:

• Air France
• Canadian Pacific Airlines
• South Africa Airways
• Trans Australian Airlines
• Uraba Madeline and Central Airways
• Paneo de Brazil
• Pan America World Airways
• Philippine Airlines
• Scandinavian Airlines System
• Middle East Airlines System
• Civil Air Transport
• Cathay Pacific Airways
• British Overseas Airways

Along with this internationalization, KNA flourished. It is self-evident when one notes that being the KNA stewardess was the envy of Korean young women at the time. Women selected as Miss Korea worked as the KNA stewardesses wearing top quality style uniforms with the badge of the national flag wings. The stewardess test had a competition rate of 27 to 1. KNA President Yong-wook Shinn who called himself as Captain Shinn presented a bag with a KNA mark to the passengers. In the Summer, he gave to the passengers a folding Hanji (Korean traditional paper) hand fan with a drawing of KNA symbol as a present.

3.4. Signing of the Korea-U.S. Aviation Agreement (1957)

One of Yong-wook Shinn’s major accomplishments was to go to the United States in 1957 as a member of the Korean National Assembly (Congress) and got the Korea-U.S. Aviation Agreement signed after three months of the long hard negotiations.

He first coined in the word “air sovereignty” in the Korean National Assembly, emphatically saying in his speech to the National Assembly “Now aren’t we a sovereign country? We must make a formal aviation agreement with the United States”.

The National Assembly unanimously accepted his proposal for the Korea-US aviation agreement and also President Seung-man Rhee enthusiastically supported the negotiation with the US and dispatched the National Assembly member, Yong-wook Shinn, to the US. At the time, he was just working with the simple notion that if the US plane freely flew in the Seoul sky, the Korean planes should also be able to fly freely in the American sky.

By the away, the result of the negotiations could be considered not a very satisfactory result from today’s viewpoint because it only opened the route between Seoul and Seattle instead of the Seoul-Hawaii-Los Angeles route that Korea wanted. Nevertheless, it was a breakthrough achievement and what was more meaningful was that it laid the groundwork for gradual acquisition of the US aviation routes in the future.

After the Agreement, the KNA bought the Lockhead 649 model super constellation by a monthly installment. Unfortunately, this plane was only used for charter flights to the United States. The problem was that at that time there were not many economically affordable individuals to travel to the United States. The regular passenger services were not available until the mid-1960s

In retrospect, at the time, Yong-wook Shinn seemed to have had lived ahead of the time for civil aviation in Korea. He did the business with just a dream for aviation rather than the business itself.

In any case, when thinking of the expensive and difficult early days of airline operations in the olden days of 1950s, unimaginable for now in a poor country where the average national income was still under $100, one cannot but just assume that everything Yong-wook Shinn achieved for the development of civil aviation in Korea was something only a pioneer like him who only dreamed of flying could have done.

 

3.5. 1950s when spraying pesticides for farmers by Helicopter

During KNA “Heydays”, Yongwook Shinn provided a variety of charity service in his home town, his congressional district of Go-chang. He established scholarship funds for poor students and also to support orphanages for the orphans of the 6.25 Korean War. He also established funds to support educational businesses and financially helped establish a public high-school in Go-chang.

In the Summer, as he did by his light aircraft during the Japanese colonial era, Yong-wook Shinn, this time using his favorite helicopter he bought from the U.S., sprayed pesticides for Go-chang and near-by areas to help protect harvest from harmful insects. The farmers were very grateful.

Unfortunately, in August 1958, while spraying the pesticide at a low altitude his helicopter propeller hit the power line and crashed. It was the last of his helicopter spraying pesticides. People from those days in Go-chang still remember him as a member of the National Assembly spraying pesticides and consider him as a respectable man whom they knew well. They still fondly call him flyer, Yong-wook Shinn.

With six years of research after his helicopter crash in 1958, Yong-wook Shinn invented the world’s first helicopter crash prevention and speed acceleration devices and applied for patents in the Patent and Trademark Office in Korea and 13 other countries in the free world at the time. This passion of Yong-wook Shinn for aviation raised the international status of the small country, Korea’s aviation at that time.

Actually, the great contribution Yong-wook Shinn made to the development of the Go-chang area was not the pesticide sprays, but four reservoirs including the two large reservoirs, Center reservoir and ShinRim (New Forestry) reservoir, that he made for the Go-chang and nearby area farmers, persuading the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for approval of the reservoirs and then also covering the needed costs by his personal fund.

At the time, the letters of appreciation he received from the Government Ministers in recognition of his contribution to aviation pioneering and his contribution to the implementation of agricultural policies, such as spraying pesticides and building reservoirs for area farmers, were of great significance to him. Now looking back, however, the “good deeds” monuments built by Go-chang area farmers, one at the Center reservoir and the other at the ShinRim reservoir, to express their sincere appreciation could be considered much more meaningful.

Captain Shinn’s monument and his three daughters at Center Reservoir and his monument at ShinRim reservoir built by area farmers

4. The tragedy of a divided country : Abduction of KNA plane “Chang- Lang” (1958) and The beginning of KNA’s decline

Overcoming the hardship of the 6.25 Korean War, Yong-wook Shinn brought the KNA to prosperity. Just as many pioneers might experience, however, he did undergo another big ordeal. On July 7, 1957, the DC-3 while landing at the Busan SooYong airfield met with a gust of strong wind and was wrecked. Although there was no human casualty that was very fortunate, it was the first terrible accident in the history of Yong-wook Shinn and his KNA aviation history.

Yong-wook Shinn explained to his pilots that the air current in Busan was unstable, and told them several times to land flying along the side of the sea, avoiding the wind. However, the pilot of the unfortunate flight forgot the instructions and tried to land flying over the sea.

The pilot who had to be expelled after the accident was an American who was hired because of the demand of the KNA insurance company, British Lloyd Insurance Company, to only use foreign pilots. At the time, Korean pilots were not recognized by the international aviation community. The fact that foreign pilots had to be used also tells how hard it was to do aviation business in Korea at that time.

In any case, the Busan DC-3 accident was soothed with difficulty by putting in apologetic articles in dailies in Seoul and Busan stating that KNA would do its best to take the necessary measures to prevent from such the accidents occurring again.  

Unfortunately, however, a much bigger disaster was waiting for KNA. A few months after the Busan ​​SooYong landing accident, another KNA’s DC-3 plane named “Chang-Lang” was abducted to North Korea by the conspiracy of the North Korean spy. It was an unimaginable incident.

On February 16, 1958, the plane that departed Busan disappeared without arriving at Seoul Airport. It was found out that it was abducted to North Korea. The case of the DC-3 landing accident at the Busan SooYong airfield was quieted down through newspaper apologies. But the case of abduction to North Korea of the Chang-Lang plane was not of an accidental nature that could be addressed by KNA’s preventive measures from any recurrence.

Abduction of KNA’s airplane, Chang-Lang, on February 16, 1958 and a report by the TIMES.

Abduction of the “Chang Lang” plane to North Korea shook Korea. And it also shook Yong-wook Shinn and KNA, and the United Nations as well. It also shook America and West Germany because an American pilot and West German business passengers were involved in the abduction.

The UN commenced arbitration for return of the abducted people and the aircraft and the US also moved Soviet Union to put pressure on North Korea. All these eventually made North Korea return the abducted one month after they had been abducted. However, North Korea did not return the Chang-Lang plane insisting that they did not have to return the plane although the UN military force continuously demanded return of the plane for one year.

Eventually, the Korean government and the UN gave up pursuing for return of the aircraft. As a result, only KNA ended up suffering a big loss with no compensation from any government/organization and also no insurance payment from the British Lloyd Insurance Company. By the way, the plane still did not get returned until now and it is rumored that the Chang-Lang plane is still somewhere in North Korea.  

The Korean government and the UN did not pursue the return of the plane any longer when the abducted people were returned. They were satisfied with the return of the abducted people. Yong-wook Shinn and KNA were also relieved and satisfied with it. However, it actually was a big blow to KNA to lose the plane.

The real serious blow to KNA was that the British Lloyd Insurance Company refused to pay any insurance premiums for the plane with the justification that KNA did not lose its plane due to an accident or a crash, but it was just politically abducted and still in North Korea.

Looking back, Yong-wook Shinn and KNA suffered a real big blow mentally and economically from the abduction of the Chang-Lang plane in 1958. It could be viewed that the decline of KNA began with this..

Before anything else, the first problem was that the KNA passengers abruptly decreased after the incidence of the Chang-Lang plane abduction in 1958.

Yong-wook Shinn still did not give up. He once again tried hard to overcome this big crisis. For instance, as he was married in a plane the olden days in the 1930s, he held the public marriage ceremony of an Air Force officer in the KNA 4 prop passenger flight over the ChuPungReong high ground in Gangwon Province.

Captain Shinn and KNA became a big story in town. With KNA President, Captain Shinn, serving as the officiator of the marriage ceremony, the bride and the bride groom walked down the plane aisle for the wedding march in step with the sound of plane engine, being welcomed by 47 passengers’ ovation and then greeted by Miss Korea dressed as a stewardess to tie up “Belt of Happiness” that meant the never-ending happy marriage flying in the sky of the rainbow in dreams as in a fairy tale receiving congratulations from passenger guests. It was a typical Air force officer’s marriage in the sky on the KNA plane.

At the time, a very famous comedian Fryboy, Gyu-seok Kwark, was also publicly married on a KNA plane with a KNA employee bride.

All these events became a topic of town those days, and it was a very welcome encouragement to KNA President Shinn and KNA. But it was not enough to overcome the big financial problems KNA faced with after the abduction to North Korea of the Chang-Lang plane.

 

5. The End of Korean National Airlines, KNA (1961)

KNA has faced another crisis. On April 19, 1960, the regime of Yong-wook Shinn’s supporter, Seung-man Rhee’s Liberal Party collapsed due to the strong student demonstrations called “4.19 Student Revolution”, and the new Democratic Party regime of President Bo-sun Yoon and Prime Minister Myun Chang came into power.

After the incidence of the Chang-Lang abduction, the KNA financial situation, although Yong-wook Shinn tried very hard, did not improve. Nevertheless, he continued to run KNA incurring lots of private debts. Unfortunately, however, the KNA situation deteriorated much more.  

Yong-wook Shinn was not able to borrow the working capital from any bank even if he put in almost all of his properties as collateral including the KNA office building at # 1 Jongno street. Regardless, he still did not give up and continued to operate KNA suspending the Seoul-Hong Kong route and reducing the number of domestic flights.

In the midst of all this, the Korea-UK Aviation Agreement was concluded in June 1960. Encouraged by this Agreement, Yong-wook Shinn once again challenged with the new hopes reopening the Seoul-Hong Kong route and also increasing the domestic flights again.

Around this time, Jung-hoon Cho, President of Hanjin Trading, founded HanKook Air and received a license to operate the airline business, although he did not engage in any active business. Duck-chang Chang, who served as Air Force Chief of Staff, also opened GoReu Air.

At that time, Yong-wook Shinn’s goal was to secure a route between Seoul and Tokyo, considered the Golden route, through normalization of the diplomatic relations with Japan, which was not possible during President Seung-man Rhee’s Liberal Party era. Under this circumstance, Yong-wook Shinn received a joint venture proposal from Jung-hoon Cho of Hanjin Trade for HanKook Air. At the time, however, Yong-wook Shinn was discussing a joint venture with Duck-chang Chang of GoReu Air.

In September 1960, Yong-wook Shinn submitted a proposal for the establishment of the regular service route between Seoul and Tokyo to the Korean government. At the same time, he also negotiated it with the Japanese government and Japan Airlines and reached a consensus to conclude a Korea-Japan aviation agreement at an early date and establish a regular route between the two countries.

However, another terrible tribulation came along. This time, the luck did not stay with aviator Yong-wook Shinn to help him achieve his childhood dream of flying.

Up until the evening of May 15, 1961, Yong-wook Shinn was discussing a joint venture with Duck-chang Chang of GoReu Air at a restaurant called WoonSung in anticipation of the Korea-Japan aviation agreement.  

Alas! The military coup d’etat by General Jung-hee Park occurred the next day on May 16, 1961 which turned out to be the final blow to KNA’s downfall.  

The regime was changed with the 5.16 military coup d’etat and Yong-wook Shinn being the owner of an airline company and also the one who was a National Assembly man for the 2nd and 3rd National Assemblies became a case of examination for illegal accumulation of wealth, and was confined to the Seodaemun prison.

Chung-hee Park, the leader of the coup d’etat directly told Yong-wook Shinn to return the 1 million dollars he had been financed with through the government in 1953 during the Seung-man Rhee regime.

The $1 million were proved to be a government guaranteed loan lent to KNA under a 30 year repayment condition. It was proven that $166,000 had been paid back. So, he was found not guilty and released after 40 days in the prison. However, while Shinn was in prison for 40 days, the KNA which he was trying to save with various means and plans including the above mentioned Korea-Japan Agreement, was getting much worse financially. Even he had no ability to pay employees’ salaries. He could not get any private loans either.

Yong-wook Shinn was indeed a man who loved the sky, a man who loved airplanes. He was Korean Wright Brother and Charles Lindbergh. The unfortunate to him were the poverty of Korea and the suffering of history. The time was not right for him. In a poor country like Chosun those days, his childhood dream of flying was being realized as a dream too excessive, desperate and expensive for the time. On August 28, 1961, one week after he was released from prison, sadly his dead body was found in the Seoul “Han River” passing around the Yeouido Island. It was reported at the time that he committed suicide.

On September 2, 1961, the funeral of the late Captain Yong-wook Shinn of KNA, who lived making the Korea civil aviation history as the pioneer of Korea Civil Aviation, was held as the Korea’s first businessman’s funeral and mourned by everyone with the funeral procession on the Kwang Hwa Moon main street from the Seoul city plaza.

Afterwards, Yong-wook Shinn’s wife, Jung-soon Choi, went to New York to meet General James Van Fleet, the then director of Pan America World Airways, the former United Nations Supreme Commander in Korea. The purpose of her trip was to ask for a joint venture with Pan Am with Pan Am undertaking KNA’s financial liability. It was her last hope representing KNA to save the KNA meaning her husband’s entire life. Unfortunately, however, it did not work out. There was no more hope any longer beyond that.

6. After KNA: The beginning of the next generation Korean civil aviation history developing worldwide.

After Yong-wook Shinn’s tragic death, the late Captain Shinn’s KNA was only left with the intangible assets : the fact that his planes flew over the Pacific Ocean for the preceding 10 years, the domestic flight routes and the Seoul- Hong Kong regular flight route he opened, and the international contracts and/or the international aviation agreements with some 40 foreign airlines he achieved.

After the late Captain Shinn’s wife Jung-soon Choi’s failed effort for a joint venture with Pan Am, the KNA continued to operate with the urgent funding with supervisors and soldiers dispatched from the Supreme Council of the General Chung-hee Park regime, but the large operational deficits were still accumulating every month.

As a solution, the Park regime’s Supreme Council canceled KNA’s airline business license and established a 100% government funded and government-run airline company in June 1962, nominating the Air Force Reserve General Yeu-hyup Shin. as its first President. But this government-owned company still continued to suffer a large deficit, and in October 1967, Sung-whan Chang was appointed as the second President.

After that, President Chung-hee Park tried to dispose of KNA by public bid. And after failing twice in public bidding, the Park government handed the government-owned KNA to Jung-hoon Cho of Hanjin Trading/Hankook Air in 1969. And the current Korean Air era has begun. 

If looking back at Yong-wook Shinn’s lifetime biographies which represent Korea’s civil aviation history itself, one cannot help but feel that the groundwork of Korea’s domestic and foreign civil aviation he had established throughout his lifetime, the groundwork filled with his soul, has laid the foundation for the next generation of the global airlines, Korean Air and Asiana.  

People in generations to come who will be making Korea’s brilliant air history ahead should always remember the pioneer of Korea civil aviation Captain Yong-wook Shinn, thank him and feel proud of him.

June 15, 2019

 

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Adapted by Dr. Je H. Min, the former CEO of InfoNet Korea, Inc. and CEO, MQI, Inc. in memory of his wife, Mi Bong (Shinn) Min, a daughter of Captain Yong-wook Shinn, and for his children, Angela Min and Richard Min from`:

^ a 170+ page unpublished document on Aviator Yong-wook Shinn’s biography by Dr. Yearn Hong Choi, a former Washington University professor and a current Washington-based poet and writer and

^ ”Skylark’s Testimony” by Mr. Seok-woo Song published in 1999 by Korea Aviation University

 

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I’ll post the Korean version (original), but later. I’ll get this one out first.

 

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