Actress Song Hye-kyo is collaborating with Professor Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women’s University to promote independence activist Kim Maria both domestically and internationally. According to Professor Seo’s team on the 15th, Song Hye-kyo and Professor Seo have come together to commemorate November 17th, “Day of Patriotic Martyrs,” by producing and releasing a multilingual video titled “Revolutionary Heroine of Joseon, Kim Maria.”
The 4-minute and 30-second video was planned by Professor Seo and sponsored by Song Hye-kyo, featuring Korean and English narrations to widely disseminate the content to audiences both at home and abroad. The video highlights how Kim Maria donned a kimono to smuggle the “February 8th Declaration of Independence” into Korea and distribute it nationwide, avoiding the intense surveillance of men by the Japanese authorities. It also showcases her role in founding the patriotic women’s secret society, the Korean Patriotic Women’s Association, establishing branches domestically and internationally, and raising military funds for the provisional government.
Professor Seo stated, “This is the third video we’ve produced to shed light on the lives of lesser-known female independence activists, following those on Jeong Jeong-hwa and Yun Hee-sun,” explaining their intent to raise awareness. He added, “We plan to continue producing and distributing a series of multilingual videos about more female independence activists globally.”
The video is being shared on YouTube and various social media platforms, particularly reaching major Korean and international student communities worldwide. Over the past 13 years, Song Hye-kyo and Professor Seo have donated Korean-language guides, signage, and relief artworks of independence activists to 37 locations of Korean independence movement sites overseas.