The Independence Activist Graves Project, launched in May 2025 to mark the 80th anniversary of Liberation (August 15, 2025), confirmed the graves of 34 independence activists at Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. The project was organized by The Korea Daily (Joongang Ilbo USA) with the Korean National Association Memorial Foundation and the Hwarang Youth Foundation, sponsored by Bank of Hope.
Among those identified was Si-han Ho, who received the Order of Merit for National Foundation, Patriotic Medal, in 2021. For years, he was remembered as a “faceless independence activist,” with no photograph or known family connection. After the project’s findings were published, his descendants learned of his official designation for the first time and revealed rare documents, including a passport issued by the Korean Provisional Government.
Despite tending to his grave for decades, Ho’s family never knew of his recognition by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. They had visited every year on his death anniversary, February 7, unaware of his status. Jaekyung Ho (88), his youngest son, and Yoonjin Ho (77), his grandson, said they were shocked to see his name in the Korea Daily report. “We visited every year but never knew he had been designated as an independence activist,” Yoonjin Ho said.
His daughter, Jaesook Ho (95, living in Korea), had long known about his activities but abandoned registration efforts due to a lack of documentation. She said she was not seeking compensation but wanted history to recognize the truth. After reading the Korea Daily article, she described being so overjoyed she “couldn’t sleep” and has since applied to receive his medal.
Ho’s photograph remains absent from MPVA archives, which list him as an “independence activist requiring descendant confirmation.” With his family now identified, the medal delivery process is expected to advance.
Si-han Ho’s activities spanned decades. He joined the Korean National Association in San Francisco in 1908 and helped establish a youth military school in Hastings, Nebraska, in 1914. In 1920, while raising funds in Korea for the provisional government, he was arrested but acquitted, later returning to the United States via Shanghai. He later promoted the Tongmaengdanyeonhoe (League of Alliances), worked with the Dongjihoe Los Angeles branch, and contributed financially to the independence movement and the Korean Liberation Army between 1927 and 1945. From 1943 to 1944, he was also a staff member of the LA Dongnip Sinmun (LA Independence Newspaper).
BY HANKIL KANG [kang.hankil@koreadaily.com]
