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In modern Korean history, after the opening of the ports there had been countless pioneers devoted to the salvation of Korea, their country through education as a part of the national movement for independence. Among them, there had been a lot of men of society
taking the initiative in the foundation of schools for the purpose of making national leaders of talented persons produced in private schools. For example, An, Changho founded Daeseong School, Lee, Seunghun Ohsan School, Min, Yeonghwan Heonghwa School. Besides
these persons, there were many typical educational worker such as Eom, Juik, the founder of Yangjeong School, Alice R. Appenzeller, Baejae School. All of them were male. Instead of founding the schools by making donations of their whole property, they directly
and indirectly participated in the management of the schools in the way that they founded the foundation schools by raising donations and alms. However, there were no cases where in spite of making donations of their whole property, female educational workers never took part in the management of the schools. Choi, Songseoldang, the female activist in the educational
movement that Korea, not Kimcheon had ever produced, freely made a donation of her whole property and founded Kimcheon High Common School in Kimcheon, where opportunities for high school education were absolutely scarce.
From childhood Choi, Songseoldang was unusually bright, strong-willed and decisive. In addition, she proved herself a heroic woman by bringing to prosperity her family which had been poor and unfortunate and removing the disgrace that had been attached to her predecessor’s name. Moreover, she stood in stand in the vanguard of the National Salvation Movement through education in the firm belief that cultivating men of talent was a shortcut to the bright future of her country. She asserted that the way to overcome hardships of the Koreans under the rule of the Japanese Empire was to found private schools and foster the national spirit. To make her assertion come true, she founded Kimcheon High Common School. By founding the school,
she was able to put her hope in the bright future of her country. There were a lot of factors which caused her to bring the school into existence. The scholarly atmosphere of her family in her teens, the living conditions of the Royal Court during her stay in the court as the nurse of King Yeoung Chin, Queen Eom's foundation of Sukmyeong girls' school and Jinmyeong girls' school, her mother's last instructions 'Spend voluntary subscription in educational work.' and the persuations of national leaders such as Manhae Han, Yongun and Aesan Kim, In had a great influence on her's foundation of the school. Thus Kimcheon High Common School was made the eleventh private higher institution of learning at home under the rule of the Japanese Empire. It was remarkable that the founder of the school was both a woman writer and a faithful Buddhist. It is historically significant that in spite of not actively devoting herself to the National Independence Movement, Choi, Songseoldang prepared the place to produce the national leaders through educational work.