Born and raised in Seoul , he is believed to have been inspired to learn to fly after having seen an aerobatics demonstration by American pilot Art Smith in 1916 or 1917 . In 1920 , he graduated from Japan 's Okuri Aviation School in Susaki ( present-day Kōtō , Tokyo . He passed his examinations to obtain a basic pilot 's permit the following year ; through his flying in demonstrations in Japan , he was able to obtain a first-class pilot 's licence without sitting further examinations . On his triumphant homecoming flight to visit Korea in December 1922 , he landed at Seoul 's Yeouido Airport . Upon his return to Japan , he worked as a flight instructor ; however , after he witnessed the massacre of Koreans in Japan in the aftermath of the 1 September 1923 Great Kantō earthquake , he became resolved to fight against Japanese rule over Korea , and in 1924 secretly went into exile in China . There , he joined the infantry of Guo Songling 's army ; afterwards , he lived in Beijing , becoming active in the Korean independence movement there . At the introduction of Lyuh Woon-Hyung , he joined Yen Hsi-shan 's army in 1926 and relocated to Taiyuan , Shanxi , where he became principal of the Shanxi Aviation Academy . He lived there until his death on 2 April 1930 , when he crashed his plane in bad weather while returning to the airport after an unplanned flight . He was posthumously awarded South Korea 's Order of Merit for National Foundation in 2003
Great Kantō earthquake
1923 Great Kantō earthquake
An Chang-nam