Bak Jungyang, Korean politician
Bak Jungyang (Korean: 박중양, Hanja: 朴重陽; May 3, 1874 or 1872 — April 23, 1959) was a Korean Joseon and Japanese-ruled Korean bureaucrat, politician, liberal and social activist. 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.
Bak 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 Gyeongsangbuk-do from 1906 to 1907. Later, he succeeded sequentially in the positions of Governor of Phyeongannamto, Jeollanam-do, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Phyeonganpukto and Chungcheongnam-do. Bak was involved in the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 and opposed the March 1st Movement. He also founded the Refrain Club.Bak was also Governor of Hwanghae-do from 1921 to 1923 and Chungcheongbuk-do Provinces from 1923 to 1925. Then, in 1928, he was reappointed Governor of Hwanghae-do province.
Bak was pro-Japanese, and was later named a collaborator after World War II. He was nicknamed Haeak (해악), Ilso (일소), and Wongeun (원근). He also had the Japanese names Shigeyō Hōchū (Japanese: 朴忠重陽), Jūyō Boku (朴 重陽) and Shin Yamamoto (山本 信).