Pak Chungyang (Korean: 박중양; Hanja: 朴重陽; May 3, 1872 – April 23, 1959) was a Korean bureaucrat and politician in the Japanese colonial government. His art names were Haeak (해악) and Ilso (일소), and his courtesy name was Wongeun (원근). He also had the Japanese names Shigeyō Hōchū (朴忠重陽), Jūyō Boku (朴 重陽) and Shin Yamamoto (山本 信). Pak was Governor of the prefecture Kōkai Prefecture from 1921 to 1923 and in 1928. He was also governor of Chūseihoku Prefecture from 1923 to 1925.
Pak went abroad to Japan to study and later returned to become a bureaucrat in his country. He was appointed as the Mayor of Daegu and the deputy Governor of North Gyeongsang Province from 1906 to 1907. Later, he succeeded sequentially in the positions of Governor of Phyeongannamto, South Jeolla Province, North Gyeongsang Province, Phyeonganpukto and South Chungcheong Province. Pak was involved in the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 and opposed the March First Movement. He also founded the Refrain Club.
He demolished the castle of Daegueup and the Old Gyungsangdo Provincial Office, and contributed to city planning and road maintenance in Daegu. He also participated in the destruction of the Castle of Jinju. He was a conscientious Japanese colonial supporter with pro-Japanese group ideology as well as an advocate for civil rights.
Pak was pro-Japanese, and was later named a collaborator ("chinilpa") after World War II.
Pak Chungyang was born on May 3, 1872, in Junae-myeon in Yangju County, Gyeonggi Province, Joseon. He was the second son of Pak Jeong-ho (박정호, 朴鼎鎬; 1840 – September 22, 1892) and Lady Yi of the Jeonju Yi clan (April 21, 1845 – July 12, 1929). The origin of his family is unknown, but it is speculated that he either came from the Miryang Park clan (밀양 박씨) or the Bannam Park clan (반남 박씨). His father supervised a rent farm and leased it out as well. He had three brothers; one older brother and two younger brothers.
In his adolescence, he joined the Independence Club, but it was dispersed due to the repression of the Korean Empire. This caused Pak to be disappointed and left him with a bad feeling against the Korean Empire.
In March 1894, the Korean Empire employed and dispatched assassins to Japan and China. In Shanghai, China Kim Ok-kyun, a reform minded activist, was murdered by assassin Hong Jong-u. Kim's body was turned over to a Chinese warship, where it was dismembered. Parts of his body were put on public display in several towns in Korea as a traditional humiliation and punishment for treason. When Hong returned to Korea he was appointed to high office. Pak grew an extreme hatred towards the Korean Empire and the people of Korea.
From an early age, he wanted to go abroad to Japan. In 1897, he was selected as a Korean state student to study abroad in Japan. Pak supported himself during his studies because his family was poor. From 1897 to 1900, he studied in Aoyama middle school. In 1900, he entered Dokyo buki high school as a banking major. Then, he added a double major in Japanese police studies there. After the graduation, Pak adopted Neo-Confucianism and the 'Theory of the national prosperity and the military power' from Ito Hirobumi.
At the time, he chose the Japanese name Yamamoto Shin. Pak also became a Japanese petty bureaucrat. He tried to introduce the parliamentary system to the Imperial Korean government, but the Korean government refused.
In 1903, he returned and passed the probation period as a civil officer of Imperial Korea. After returning to Korea, Pak continued to advocate a pro-Japanese position.
In 1903, Pak successfully filled various government posts, and was also appointed as a staff of the Public Administration Agency. In 1905, he served as a military interpreter during the Russo-Japanese War. In November 1905, he was appointed to the staff of the Farming, Commerce and Industry Department. He resigned when the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 was signed. On May 5, he was appointed as an engineer of the National Defense Department (군부;軍部) engineer, and accompanied Prince Yi Kang to go to Japan. Two months later, he returned to his country.
In 1906, Pak was promoted to Governor of Daegu County. Then, after a short period, he was promoted again to the Acting Governor of the North Gyeongsang Province. During the term, Pak tore down the castle of Daegueup without official permission He secretly hired Japanese workers to tear down the structure. also Pak was lay out a new street. In early 1906, he applied for permission from the Korean government, but it was refused. The government tried to punish him for the action, but he acquired protection from Ito Hirobumi. Later, he modernized the Daegu city planning and road maintenance.
He strove in building modern hospitals, medical schools and colleges, and successfully built the Dojin hospital and its affiliated medical school. He was also a supporter of the free press, including journals which satirized him. His idea was that the freedom of the press is a must to supervise the government.
In 1907, he became a governor of Phyeongannamto and Phyeonganpukto, and in 1910, the Governor of South Chungcheong Province.
When the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 was signed in August 1910, Pak remained as the Governor of Chungcheongnam-do until 1915. From 1916 to 1920, he was a member of Japanese Government-General of Korea's Privy Council. In 1919, he opposed the March First Movement, and founded the Refrain club on 6 April in response. Pak was hindrance and dissuade, advice of go home of demonstrato of March First Movement. His old friends Philip Jaisohn and Yun Chi-ho cut off relations with him due to this.
He was appointed as the Governor of Kōkai Prefecture in 1921, and the Governor of Chūseihoku Prefecture in 1923 to 1925. After the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and subsequent Kantō Massacre, he appealed to the Japanese government to release the arrested Koreans, and asserted that the Koreans were not involved in the criminal cases which occurred during the earthquake. In November 1924, he was accused in a sex abuse scandal, but the accuser woman suddenly died; three years later, the charge against him was dismissed. In 1928, he was re-appointed as the Governor of Kōkai Prefecture.
He governed the civilians through a regulated bureaucracy system, often with warning and several days of confinement instead of punishment, and suppressed the power of the Japanese police and soldiers to harass civilians, even putting them in confinement as well. Sometimes, the bureaucrats were imprisoned, but the Japanese police never arrested him, because he was especially trusted by the Japanese Governor-General of Korea, which pleased many Joseon people.
In 1927 to 1939, he was a member of Japanese Government-General of Korea's Privy Council; and in 1936, the advisor of Japanese Government-General of Korea's Privy Council. Seven years later, he was elected as the vice-chairman of the council. In 1940, he changed name to Hōchū Segeyō as per the Japanese Sōshi-kaimei.